Simon Henderson is the Baker Senior Fellow and director of the Bernstein Program on Gulf and Energy Policy at The Washington Institute, specializing in energy matters and the conservative Arab states of the Persian Gulf.
Articles & Testimony
Even if a political timetable can be arranged and President Mansour Hadi can hold on, further destabilization appears inevitable.
A political deal may be in prospect in Yemen, where confusion has reigned in Sana for more than a week after Houthi rebels seized the presidential palace and laid siege to the president's residence and that of his prime minister. But the prospective result -- more Houthi influence in the government -- will concern neighboring Saudi Arabia, which sees the Houthis as a proxy for Iran.
The essence of the emerging compromise appears to be a new constitution which will ensure better representation for the Houthis. On 27 January, the rebels, who have dominated the capital since advancing from their tribal area in the mountains of the north last year, released the president's chief of staff who they had abducted 10 days earlier. The president's current legal status is ambiguous. He offered his resignation last week, a decision described by the rebel leader, Abd al-Malik al-Houthi, on 28 January, as a "maneuver." But the regional consequences are as great as the domestic intricacies...
