Conflict in Yemen: From Ethnic Fighting to Food Riots

Yemen is considered a global terrorist base for Al-Qaeda and violence is threatening social order. The socio-economic origins of violence have changed. Prior to 2008, violence can be attributed to inter-group conflict between distinct ethnic and religious groups. Starting in 2008, increasing global food prices triggered a new wave of violence that spread to the endemically poor southern region. This violence shares its origins with other food riots and the recent Arab Spring. Loss of social order and the threat of terror organisations can be addressed by directly eliminating the causes of violence. Inter-group violence can be addressed by delineating within-country provinces for local autonomy of ethnic and religious groups. The impact of food prices can be alleviated by direct food price interventions, or by addressing the root causes of global food price increases in US policies. This is most urgent, as a new bubble in food prices has been projected to begin before the end of 2012.