Yemenis are already facing what the UN has classified as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, and everything indicates that their suffering will only increase as more local communities are forced to take sides. Given the ongoing lack of an agreement, and with the forces of the so-called Arab Coalition (Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) greatly reduced, local role-players are now positioning themselves for war on behalf of their external sponsors. After six years of armed conflict, the country has split at least three ways: the Houthis in the north fighting the Abu Dhabi-backed secessionists, and the weak government of Abdrabbo Mansur Hadi in the east with support from Riyadh. The influx of money and weapons from regional actors will lead to further polarization. And, by turning the conflict into a full-fledged proxy war, the states that once formed the Arab Coalition will be able to shirk their responsibility in providing reparations and assistance to rebuild the country.

Sidestepped in international headlines, the country deserves an in-depth analysis of the past and the interference that has led it to this alarming situation, and of the uncertain future of its people. Casa Árabe and the Center for Strategic Studies of Sanaa are organizing this round table with Farea Al-Muslimi, director and co-founder of the center, Ghaithaa Alrashidy, a researcher and visual data specialist at the same think-tank, and journalist Natalia Sancha, a contributor to El País, who provided special coverage of Yemen in late 2020.  Presented by Karim Hauser, Casa Árabe’s Coordinator of International Relations.

Farea Al-Muslimi is the director and co-founder of the Center for Strategic Studies in Sanaa. He is also an associate member of Chatham House. Prior to that, he worked for the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut and the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. as a visiting scholar, where he covered Yemen and the Gulf. In August 2016, UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon appointed Al-Muslimi to become a member of the Advisory Panel of Experts for the Study of Progress on Youth, Peace and Security, a study mandated by Security Council Resolution 2250 to examine the positive contribution of youths to peace processes, conflict resolution and effective responses at the local, national, regional and international levels. Al-Muslimi’s publications on Yemen and the region have appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, New York Times, The National, The Independent, The Guardian, Al-Hayyat, Assafir Arabi, Al-Monitor and other publications.

Ten years ago a series of popular uprisings in the Arab world broke with decades of lethargy and burst onto the world scene, unleashing major transformations in the region. This mobilization in the streets led to intense social pressure which caused the downfall of more than one leader in the region. Among the most symbolic settings in this so-called Arab Spring was Tahrir Square in Egypt, where demonstrations resulted in the subsequent resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. But the transition in the region’s most populous country has not been easy for the enthusiastic youths of 2011, or for those who hoped to see a civil and democratic state grow stronger.

Tunisia provides a clear example of successful democratic transition in the Arab world. Although it faces a number of political and socio-economic challenges, the truth is that this North African country has managed to leave authoritarianism behind. Proof of this is that elections are held regularly, the parliament is active and made up of ideologically different political parties, while the population enjoys the basic freedoms of any democracy.

The flip side of the coin is a situation of profound governmental instability: disagreements between the president and the prime minister, as well as between the executive branch and the head of the legislature. In the meantime, popular protests against the political class and the adverse socio-economic situation continue to take place in streets across the nation.

As a part of the series of talks titled “The People Want..” about the tenth anniversary of the so-called “Arab Springs,” Casa Árabe, with the cooperation of Stractegia, will be discussing the case of Tunisia with three specialists from that country: Farah Hached, a legal expert and founder of the “Democratic Laboratory,” Huda Mzioudet, a freelance journalist and researcher, and Tarek Kahlaoui, a political scientist, a professor at the Mediterranean School of Business and a researcher at Stractegia. Presented by Karim Hauser, Casa Árabe’s Coordinator of International Relations. Moderated by: Barah Mikaïl, director of Stractegia.

Farah Hamed is a lawyer, the vice-president of Mahmoud el-Materi University, president of the Tunisian think-tank ”Labo’ Démocratique” and author of the book “Révolution tunisienne et défis sécuritaires” (“Tunisian Revolution and Security Challenges”).

Tarek Kahlaoui completed his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania, and is a political activist and analyst. From 2012 through 2014, he ran the think-tank ”Strategic Studies Institute of Tunisia,” which was linked to the country’s Presidency, and he frequently writes about politics and security-related affairs in Tunisia.

Huda Mzioudet is an academic researcher and student of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Toronto, in Canada.