Yemen: A Different Political Paradigm in Context

Abstract

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Is the Failed State Thesis Analytically Useful? The Case of Yemen

“…This analysis could, if applied to a state like Yemen, take orientalist hues, suggesting the inferior, amoral and unchangeable nature of ‘Other’ societies. Such an argument is made by Roby Barrett who argues for the eternal nature of Yemeni politics, stating: ‘In Yemen the more things change, the more they stay the same’ (Barrett, 2011, p. 73). However, anthropologist Kanhong Lin suggests that images of, for example, ‘close-minded tribesmen’ conjured up in the media discourse of Yemen as a failed state and, it is argued here, in Barrett's analysis, are ‘fundamentally misguided’ (Lin, 2010, p. 28).…”