Destroying Yemen : what chaos in Arabia tells us about the world /

This book does not exclusively concern the recent conflict in Yemen, but rather interests and interventions in YAR (northern Yemen), chiefly in the period up to 1977; it then skips forward to 1989. According to Blumi (Stockholm Univ., Sweden), certain leaders--like Imam Ahmad and the assassinated president, Ibrahim al-Hamdi--resisted insidious globalism, CIA intentions to improperly develop the country, and American capitalists confusing their personal profits with Yemenis' needs. Also at fault were chauvinist elites in Cairo, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. A wide range of sources are used, but in a selective fashion. Ali Abdullah Saleh is portrayed as a comprador of the West and its war on terrorism. Blumi discounts any connection of Ansar Allah (the Houthis) with Iran; rather they militarized following Husayn al-Houthi's efforts to control water rights and grazing lands infringed on by the Saudis. Post-development theory does not so much explain Yemen's rape, attempted pillage, and current disintegration, as log various assertions. This work should be supplemented with other works if readers lack familiarity with the country. Summing Up: Optional. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --Sherifa Zuhur, University of California, Berkeley