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Yemen: Homegrown War

"Many international commentators continue to present the war in Yemen through the lens of Saudi Arabian intervention or sectarian conflict, [or both].

In essence, Yemeni internal stability has been undermined by widespread political disenfranchisement and socio-economic marginalisation. The Houthis exploited this alienation, which was not merely sectarian – many Zaydi Shiites rejected their message as anachronistic and anti-democratic, while many Sunnis shared their non-sectarian resentments."

So far so good.

But, like in Syria, it is convenient to give predominance to "sectarianism." It is good for both imperialism and "Western" public consumption.

Note: Al-Arabiya is an arm of the Saudi propaganda machine. For that obvious reason there is no mention of the Saudi, and the Emirati, crimes in Yemen. That does not invalidate the analysis that the conflict is originally 'a homegrown affair." 

The war in Yemen is a homegrown affair

Related:
A page from Yemen's modern history
A book: The Dark Side of Democracy by Michael Mann

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