Yemen’s civil war: A historical look

Thursday, October 5, 2023, 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. EDT
The Brookings Institution, Falk Auditorium, 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Washington, D.C.

The civil war in Yemen, ongoing since 2014, resulted in one of the worst humanitarian disasters of our times, with widescale famine accompanying the direct toll of war. The American approach to the war has vacillated between support for Saudi Arabia’s war effort against the rebelling Houthis, under former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, to a push for a ceasefire under President Joe Biden, which was reached in 2022 with U.N. mediation.

In his new book, “America and the Yemens: A Complex and Tragic Encounter,” Brookings Nonresident Senior Fellow Bruce Riedel places America’s involvement in the bloody war in the context of the history of U.S. relations with the political entities that have comprised Yemen, north and south. Riedel traces the history of U.S.-Yemen relations to former President John F. Kennedy’s response to the Egyptian and Soviet involvement in Yemen in 1962, in a first in-depth review of America’s role there.

On October 5, the Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings will host a discussion about the book and its conclusions, examining the historical context behind the war and the history of America’s engagement with Yemen, and what lessons history offers for abating the humanitarian suffering today.

Registration is required to attend an event in person and guests at Brookings are required to attest to their state of health before attending. Visitors may not enter the building if they are feeling ill for any reason, have any symptoms commonly associated with COVID-19, or have tested positive for COVID-19 at any time in the preceding 5 days.

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