Yemen: The everlasting “forgotten”, “ignored", “proxy" and “absurd” war

by Bushra Nasr Kretschmer

VIDC online magazine Spotlight

This article was published in the VIDC online magazine Spotlight March 2021. If you want to receive the quarterly online magazine, invitations and documentations please subscribe here

Further reading


The Houthi Intellectual and cultural document. The document clearly states the alleged God-given right for Houthis to rule in Yemen, 2012.

“Let’s Talk Supremacy in Yemen”, Safa A. Karman, 6 September 2020, YouTube.

Sam for Rights and Liberties reports and statements: Yemen, 22 March 2021.

“US decries Houthi war on aid in Yemen”, 7 May 2020, Arab News.

“Revocation of the Terrorist Designations of Ansarallah”, Press Statement, Anthony J. Blinken, Secretary of State, 12 February 2021, U.S. Department of State.

Krieger, Helmut; Seewald, Magda; VIDC (Hrsg.) (2017) Krise, Revolte und Krieg in der arabischen Welt, Münster.

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Author


Bushra Nasr Kretschmer is an economic development expert and political analyst. She is the founder of Sabaa Consulting Services and possesses more than 15 years of international experience in development programs.
The article expresses the author's point of view as a Yemeni.

School  in Taiz © Taha Saleh

School in Taiz © Taha Saleh

As Yemen enters the seventh year of war, the international players keep confirming their inability to end it. Yemenis keep seeing them trapped in their own bubble bouncing between two statements: a) rethinking peace in Yemen, and b) ending the war in Yemen. As it stands now, the Biden administration has revoked the ‘terrorist’ designation on the Houthi Rebels, a designation that could have been used as a negotiation card to force them to move towards peace. For instance, it could have been used as leverage for the urgently needed maintenance of Safer, the oil tanker floating North of the Yemeni city Al-Houdaydah containing 1,160 million barrels of oil, in order to avoid a disaster.
International diplomats keep discussing unclear solutions for the Yemenis. To put it simply, the western diplomats, due to their insistence on linking the conflict with Iran’s nuclear deal and regional interests, have failed to understand the root causes of the conflict in Yemen, which can be found in the ideology and doctrine of the Houthi.