Chapter
4:
Context
and
contextual
changes
Ranked
number
152
out
of
162
countries
in
the
Global
Peace
Index
in
2013,
Yemen
is
considered
to
have
a
very
low
state
of
peace.
Moreover,
its
level
of
peace
has
declined
significantly
between
2008
and
2013
(Institute
for
Economics
and
Peace,
2013).
Yemen
faces
a
range
of
security
threats.
Examples
of
security
threats
include:
• Zaydi-‐Shia
rebellion
in
the
northeastern
corner
of
the
country,
• Resurgence
of
Al-‐Qaeda
in
the
Arabian
Peninsula
(AQAP)
and
their
escalated
attacks,
and
• A
resurfacing
of
a
secessionist
movement
in
the
south
(UN,
2011).
Consequences
of
the
security
threats
include,
among
many
others,
casualties
amongst
different
groups,
land
grab,
internal
displacement
and
inaccessibility
of
larger
areas
to
development
and
humanitarian
actors.
These
security
threats
have
also
diverted
government
and
international
community’s
attention
and
resources
from
critical
development
priorities
(UN,
2011).
Yemen
has
also
been
labelled
a
‘fragile
state’
by
the
World
Bank
in
2012,
which
means
it
lacks
the
ability
to
develop
mutually-‐constructive
relations
with
society
and
has
a
weak
capacity
to
perform
basic
governance
functions
(OECD,
2013).
The
fragility
is
related
to
Yemen’s
continuous
struggle
with
a
range
of
structural
problems.
These
include
inter
alia
the
use
of
force
by
non-‐state
actors,
legal
pluralism,
incidents
of
local
unrest
including
calls
for
separation,
food
insecurity,
intensified
Al-‐Qaida
militant
activities
(an
example
being
AQAP’s
11
systematic
targeting
of
Yemeni
security
personnel),
and
nepotism,
patronage,
and
corruption
(BTI,
2012).
4.1.2
A
short
history
of
the
patronage
system
Ali
Abdullah
Saleh,
Yemen’s
former
president,
ruled
the
YAR
from
1978
before
taking
power
in
the
United
Republic.
The
political
system
was
described
as
pluralized
authoritarianism,
which
means
that
although
some
space
is
granted
for
alternative
voices,
there
are
severe
restrictions
on
the
establishment
of
alternative
instituti