Middle East & Africa | One state, or two states, or no state

Can Yemen hold together?

A country ravaged by civil war seeks an elusive peace

Houthis take security measures in Sanaa, Yemen — Image: Getty Images

Aug 9th 2023

Fragmented states in the Middle East are no rarity—think of Iraq, Libya, Palestine and Syria—but Yemen is the most disunited of all. Rent by civil war for the past eight years, it is a patchwork of competing factions. Last year a ceasefire between Saudi Arabia, which supports a toothless but internationally recognised government, and the Houthi rebels, who control a large swathe of territory including the capital, Sana’a, promised to stabilise the country and, on paper, to hold it together. Instead, the fragile ceasefire has enabled the Houthis to tighten their grip on the area under their control and has weakened the forces arrayed against them. After fighting those of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to a draw, the Houthis look poised to win the peace.

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “One state, two states, or no state?”