Yemen

Yemen

The civil war in Yemen continues with no solution in sight. The Saudi-UAE led coalition versus the Houthis has shown signs of fracture, particularly in the secessionist southern region, and United Nations-mediated talks have achieved some small successes. The humanitarian crisis—named by the United Nations as the most catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the world—continues to spiral and a resolution to the conflict remains out of reach.

Featured commentary & analysis

Reviving peace talks in Yemen: What comes next

Podcast
Jun 18, 2026

“Shoot everybody”: US contractors in San Diego court

By
Alia Brahimi

In Season 2, Episode 16 of the Guns for Hire podcast, host Alia Brahimi is joined by Daniel McLaughlin, an international lawyer and Legal Director of the Centre for Justice and Accountability (CJA), a California-based legal nonprofit working on behalf of victims of torture and other atrocity crimes. Daniel and CJA are leading a civil suit in San Diego against a Delaware-registered PMC, Spear Operations Group, for war crimes in Yemen. They represent the Yemeni parliamentarian Anssaf Ali Mayo, who was one of the targets of an alleged hit-squad in Yemen. Daniel talks us through the facts of the case, how it ended up in a California courtroom ten years later, and which US and international laws were ostensibly broken by the PMC. He also argues forcefully that the US government has a duty to regulate how former members of its military use their training and know-how.

Middle East
Rule of Law

Reviving peace talks in Yemen: What comes next

MENASource
Mar 10, 2026

Will the Houthis join the Iran war?

By
Allison Minor

Houthi involvement in the Iran war could reignite the Yemen war after four years of relative calm, with significant implications for Yemen and the region.

Conflict
Iran

Reviving peace talks in Yemen: What comes next

MENASource
Oct 16, 2025

After the Gaza cease-fire, what’s next for the Houthis?

By
Osamah Al Rawhani

Will the Houthis cease their regional hostilities? The brief response is yes—but likely, only for the time being.

Maritime Security
Middle East

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Content

MENASource

Nov 20, 2018

Reviving peace talks in Yemen: What comes next

By Jessica Levy and Paul R. Williams

With the high and ever-growing civilian death toll of Yemen’s civil war, the acute need for peace contrasts sharply with the sparse hopes of a peace process. After months of delays, the government and rebel forces announced on November 19 their intentions to temporarily freeze military operations and convene for negotiations in Sweden. The success of these talks will depend on whether the parties can effectively apply the lessons of past peace talks to structure a new peace process for Yemen.

Yemen

Event Recap

Oct 9, 2018

The Arc of Crisis in the MENA Region

By Erin A. Neale

On Tuesday, October 9th, the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East held a conference to discuss the nature of foreign involvement in ongoing conflicts in the region as well as the resilience of Jihadism in the post-2011 period. The conference coincided with the launching of a report, “The Arc of Crisis in […]

Iraq Libya

In the News

Oct 9, 2018

Charai in Newsmax: Trump’s Allies in Yemen

By Atlantic Council

International Norms Middle East

MENASource

Oct 3, 2018

Yemen’s humanitarian crisis persists, despite humanitarian funding

By Afrah Nasser

When over $2 billion was pledged for the 2018 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP) earlier this year, it was considered not only a success but also the best funded response plan worldwide according to anonymous aid workers who spoke to the author during the UN General Assembly. So far, 65% of the pledged funds have been delivered. The delivery of the remaining funding is expected throughout this year.

Yemen

In the News

Oct 1, 2018

Charai for The Gatestone Institute: United States is Doing More to Fight Yemen’s Humanitarian Crisis than the Press Knows

By Atlantic Council

Middle East Politics & Diplomacy

IranSource

Sep 5, 2018

A Humanitarian Responsibility: End of US Support for Saudi-led Coalition in Yemen

By Masoud Mostajabi

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and ally United Arab Emirates (UAE), pledged decisive victory when they entered into war in March 2015 against Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The results thus far have not been the Houthis’ defeat, but tens of thousands of deaths, a cholera epidemic and famine — what the United Nations has deemed […]

Iran Saudi Arabia

New Atlanticist

Aug 28, 2018

The War in Yemen: Playing With Fire

By Nabeel Khoury

Officials in US President Donald J. Trump’s administration have repeatedly described the ongoing conflict in Yemen as a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia, hence justifying the United States siding with a country that many US officials view as “our strong ally” against Iran. Ironically, the Yemen policy of Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, was […]

Yemen

MENASource

Aug 22, 2018

Syria and Yemen could have been Jordan

By Erin A. Neale

Recently the World Bank published its annual world income categorization of 189 countries and 28 other economies. Jordan, Syria, and Yemen were among the nine countries whose status climbed or fell to reflect changes in gross national income (GNI). Jordan progressed from a lower-middle income to an upper-middle income country ($3,896–$12,055 per capita). The effects […]

Middle East Syria

MENASource

Aug 13, 2018

Yemen: End this abomination now

By Frederic C. Hof

For the past seven years, this writer has viewed the Syrian uprising largely through the lens of civilian protection, because civilian slaughter has defined the conflict and dictated its dire political consequences. Although one may ascribe vastly different motives to the President of Syria on the one hand and the leaders of Saudi Arabia and […]

The Gulf Yemen

MENASource

Jul 26, 2018

Prospects for peace in Yemen

By Zara Jayant

As the conflict in Yemen continues and the country’s humanitarian crisis deepens, UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, is attempting to negotiate a ceasefire for the port of Hodeida, a vital port for bringing aid and food into the famine-struck country. Earlier this month, the Saudi-led coalition began attacking the port city in response […]

Yemen
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Experts

Fellow

Osamah Al Rawhani

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Middle East Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding

Fellow

Eric Alter

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Arabic French

Fellow

Khaled H. Alyemany

Former Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Arabic Middle East

Expert

Jon Wilks

Distinguished Fellow, Transatlantic Project

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Crisis Management