At A Glance:

White, red and green waves are surging everywhere in the Land of Cedars. The Lebanese are taking the streets, brandishing the national flag as a call to defy a corrupted elite. The political class has proven itself unable to fulfill the expectations of the people.

Emerging hydrocarbon discoveries in the eastern Mediterranean unravel political and economic opportunities for the region’s states. The region that is commonly known as the ‘Levantine Basin’ (figure 1) is believed to be floating around excessive amounts of gas reserves. According to an assessment carried out by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in 2010,[1] the Levantine Basin holds around 122 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas.

At the peak of the Arab Spring uprisings throughout the Middle East, protesters in Yemen called for the former President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to step down from office. After months of protest, Saleh  agreed to hand over power to the second-incommand, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, and a new constitution was to be formed under his direction in the National Dialogue Conference (NDC), which began in March of 2013.

The role of women in Yemen has transformed throughout the conflict period. For a country that consistently suffers to uphold and promote the rights of women, there are those individuals and groups who prevail. This chapter will explore the changing roles of women in Yemen, and how the perceptions of women in peacebuilding contexts have transformed between the time of the postArab Spring peace negotiations in the National Dialogue council, into the role that women take in today’s conflict.

The humanitarian aid crisis has been at the forefront of the discussion on Yemen in the past two years. Prior to 2017, the humanitarian crisis, that has been seen since the start of the war, was not discussed on an international level. Since the beginning of the coalition blockade in 2015, millions of people’s lives have been at risk, as food, water and medical supplies are diminished or unable to enter into Yemen, or are stuck in the ports.

Yemen is in an on-going full-scale conflict since March 2015. The country is in a swamp of political violence that overshadows nearly all economic, social, and political determinations of the society.

In January 2011, Yemenis marched in the streets of Sana’a denouncing Ali Abdullah Saleh’s policies and economic mismanagement. In resemblance to the demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt, protestors demanded change and an end to Saleh’s rule over Yemen.