While international attention has focused on the Trump administration’s ramping up the bombardment of Houthi positions, Yemen is in dire need after 10 years of civil war. A new article in Middle East Policy contends that rebuilding the country will require “localizing the distribution of development aid, which relies on existing networks in the reconstruction of economic infrastructure. Yemen’s history of community-driven development can be the key to a sustainable post-conflict future.”
All articles in the Spring 2025 issue, the 163rd edition in the journal’s history, are free to read through May 1.
The analysis of Yemen’s potential for post-conflict reconstruction, by Asher Orkaby of Harvard University and Afrah Al-Ahmadi, an independent specialist in social development, stresses that “community-driven development projects have been increasingly adopted by the World Bank since the mid-1990s with an eye toward empowering local beneficiaries and spurring more efficient and effective uses of financial resources.”
The authors probe the last 50 years of Yemeni history to show that there had once been robust networks of local development associations, which fueled entrepreneurship that focused on the needs of the rural periphery. While this did complicate central planning, the community-focused groups avoided the pitfalls of bloated bureaucracies and participated in the government’s process.
But this changed with the outbreak of the current civil war. “Since the outbreak of hostilities in 2014, foreign donors have shifted their focus from medium-and long-term development assistance to short-term humanitarian aid,” Orkaby and Al-Ahmadi assert. “This has led to unhealthy dependency exacerbated by the destruction and neglect of the country’s social and economic capital.”
The authors conclude that “a top-down, foreign-donor approach to postwar reconstruction” could lead to a “divisive patronage system.” Instead, they argue: “Postwar reconstruction funds could have a far greater impact on long-term economic development in Yemen if the donors think local rather than national.”
All content in the Spring 2025 Middle East Policy is free to read during the month of April.
The new issue features 10 original articles and three book reviews, anchored by coverage of post-Assad Syria, taking down myths that have erupted since the rebel victory and analyzing Turkey’s ascendance in the wake of the shocking ouster. Given the murky prospects for ending the Gaza campaign, the issue then explores Iran’s and Saudi Arabia’s confusing approaches to the war and whether China has fundamentally shifted its relationship with Israel.
The journal next takes a deep dive into Saudi Arabia’s potential security deal with the United States, including Israel’s reaction to Riyadh’s proposed nuclear capability, the China factor that motivates Washington’s pursuit of an accord, and whether the region could become a WMD-free zone. And we analyze peace building in postwar Yemen, demographic change and social cohesion in Iraq after the war against ISIS, and Pakistan’s security challenges since the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan.
Readers can find the Winter 2024 issue through this link, featuring M.T. Samuel’s analysis of the Gaza war and Palestinian dispossession. The journal’s special releases on the post-October 7 conflicts, Israel’s Wars and The Gaza War, remain vital sources.
Middle East Policy, Spring 2025—all articles free through May 1!
SYRIA, GAZA, AND STIRRINGS OF A NEW ORDER
Myth Busting in a Post-Assad Syria
Rob Geist Pinfold
Turkey’s Long Game in Syria: Moving beyond Ascendance
Şaban Kardaş
Saudi Arabia and Iran: Spoilers or Enablers of Conflict?
Banafsheh Keynoush
Out of Proportion: Israel’s Paradox in China’s Middle Eastern Policy
Yitzhak Shichor
THE US-SAUDI PACT AND NUCLEAR SECURITY
How to Address the Saudi Nuclear Program? An Israeli Dilemma
Niv Farago
The China Factor in US-Saudi Talks for a Defense Pact
Ghulam Ali, Peng Nian
Negotiating the Impossible? A WMD-Free Zone in the Middle East
Robert Mason
CIVIL WARS AND THEIR AFTERSHOCKS
Local Participatory Development Models for Postwar Reconstruction in Yemen
Asher Orkaby, Afrah Al-Ahmadi
Demographic Change and Social Cohesion in Post-Islamic State Iraq
Omran Omer Ali, Nazar Ameen Mohammed, Aurélie Broeckerhoff
The Taliban-TTP Nexus and Pakistan’s Rising Security Challenges
Shahid Ali, Raj Verma
BOOK REVIEWS
Florian Weigand, Waiting for Dignity: Legitimacy and Authority in Afghanistan
Reviewed by Sajjad Ahmed
Karel Černý, Instability in the Middle East: Structural Changes and Uneven Modernisation 1950–2015
Reviewed by Alper Çakır
Biden’s Gaza Failure, the Syrian Revolution, and the Folly of US Middle East Policy
Review essay by A.R. Joyce