Rethinking U.S. Policy Toward Yemen

As Yemen’s political transition moves forward with the start of its National Dialogue, the country’s leaders continue to struggle with a humanitarian crisis, a foundering economy, and ongoing instability and violence. These challenges not only hamper Yemen’s transition, they also threaten key American interests: stability in the Arabian Peninsula, the disruption of terrorist networks, secure waterways, and the flow of oil. If the Obama administration is to foster a stable, secure, and sustainable partner in Yemen, it must move beyond its current counterterrorism approach and embrace a long-term strategy that prioritizes helping the Yemeni government address the very factors that allow extremist ideology and instability to spread: the absence of basic social services, a worsening food shortage, and chronic unemployment. The U.S. government has made some positive changes in the last four years, but more can and must be done to set U.S.policy on the right course.

Please join us for a discussion of these issues with:

Hafez al Bukari
Director, Yemen Polling Center

Steven Heydemann
Senior Adviser for Middle East Initiatives, U.S. Institute of Peace

Danya Greenfield
Deputy Director, Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, Atlantic Council

Stephen McInerney (Moderator)
Executive Director, Project on Middle East Democracy