Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
Yemen is an intriguing, strategically located country that is the perennial “poor relation” of the wealthy oil monarchies of the Arabian Peninsula and has been plagued by deadly conflict since early 2015. In 2011, it saw a broad eruption of the mass protests associated with the “Arab Spring.” But four years later, that popular movement was largely over-run by a series of deadly conflicts, stoked from outside by a lengthy, lethal military intervention led by neighboring Saudi Arabia. The Saudis and their allies pounded Yemen’s major cities with billions of dollars’ worth of advanced bombs and missiles—most of them US-supplied. Catastrophe ensued for Yemen’s already impoverished population of 27 million. In large areas of the country, meanwhile, a resilient branch of Al-Qaeda had also sunk deep roots.
Arabia Incognita helps readers understand Yemen’s unfolding crisis by tracing the country’s modern history from the strong anti-imperial movement of the 1960s through the present complex of conflicts. Reporting at-the-time and mostly from on-the-spot, the book’s contributors focus on Yemen’s own social/political dynamics. They also explore parallel disharmonies in the neighboring Gulf petro-kingdoms and the roles played by wider pan-Arab movements and various US military and paramilitary bodies. The "dispatches" in this anthology were originally published in Middle East Report. They were chosen by renowned Yemen expert Dr. Sheila Carapico, who also contributes an Introduction and other guides for readers.
Arabia Incognita is published in collaboration with the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP), which has published Middle East Report since 1971.
"Perfect for understanding the political economy, geopolitics and social relations of the region."
—Laleh Khalili, University of London
"Sheila Carapico and MERIP Reports have been central voices in informing the public about the realities of the Middle East, beyond the glib talking points of politicians and pundits. Yemen is surely the most strategically important country to be so studiedly ignored in the West, and this volume gathering up incisive essays on its contemporary history and politics is essential reading."
—Juan Cole, Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History, University of Michigan
"Sheila Carapico’s masterful compilation of selected Middle East Research and Information Project reports is required reading for anyone seeking to understand the Yemen catastrophe and its Middle East-wide implications. Many are responsible for the disaster, first and foremost Yemen’s political elites whose promising national dialogue failed. At the same time, abject failures of analysis keep the United States and Saudi Arabia from looking beyond their respective preoccupations with killing terrorists and confronting Iran. Until they do, “Arabia” will remain “Incognita” at unacceptable human and strategic cost for all concerned."
—Charles Dunbar, US Ambassador to Yemen, 1988−91
"Unfortunately, Yemen remains deeply undercovered and misunderstood, despite the gravity of its recent crises and the deep regional and global implications of its slide into civil war. Thus, a volume like this—composed of a diverse array of takes on key issues by some of the most respected experts on the country—represents a deeply valuable addition to the literature available on Yemen. It is a must read to understand the larger picture of what’s happening in Yemen."
—Farea al-Muslimi, chairman of the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies
"Sheila Carapico’s Arabia Incognita is essential reading—it explores the sinews of power and paranoia that emanate from Saudi Arabia, ensnaring the smaller emirates and creating mayhem in Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East. Thoughtful and well-informed scholars write with compassion about the Arabian Peninsula, which is well-known only as cliché but not considered as a real place, where real people live."
—Vijay Prashad, author of The Death of the Nation and the Future of the Arab Revolution
"An indispensable guide for students, Arabia Incognita combines a thoughtful introduction, well-chosen excerpts from former Middle East Report articles and other relevant sources, as well as incisive cartoons from local newspapers to illuminate how the oil-producing absolute monarchies of the Gulf have sought to control, and now pacify through direct war, the restive, poorer inhabitants of the more populous, politically vibrant southwest corner of the Peninsula. Attending to cold war dynamics, the ongoing effects of US imperialism, and competing regional forms of solidarity, Arabia Incognita is a valuable contribution about a world of which most Americans know little, despite its centrality to US and North Atlantic security interests."
—Lisa Wedeen, Mary R. Morton Professor of Political Science and codirector of the Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory at the University of Chicago
- Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh.
- Opens in a new window.