Yemen in Focus

"What has been going on for many, many years is ad hoc, day-to-day management of problems as these problems continue to grow and grow. Now, they have grown to a point where we fear the country is at risk." 
– Abdul-Ghani Al-Iryani, Political Consultant in Yemen

And Christmas Day, 2009 showed that Yemen’s problems reach far beyond its borders. Al-Qaeda is camping out in the country’s remote tribal lands, and given the massive unemployed and undereducated youth population, terrorists have plenty of potential recruits. There is no quick fix to Yemen’s problems – it is a country of growing liabilities and declining assets. The international community is sending in lawyers, guns, and money, but it remains to be seen whether Sana’a can change its ways. In this episode, we explore conditions on the ground, and ask how Yemen became such a fragile state. 

Executive Producer: Aaron Lobel / AAM Producers: Monica Bushman, Sean Carberry, Matt Ozug and Chris Williams / Interns: Whitney Hall and Chiara Marzotto / Web Producer: Javier Barrera / Photo: Sean Carberry. Host: Deborah Amos. Special thanks to the Navy History and Heritage Command and the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society and Grant Jackson and SC ETV Radio.

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+ Field Report From Yemen

Sean Carberry travels to Yemen to explore the challenging economic, political, and social conditions facing the country’s large and growing population of young people.

Guests include: Ziad, a 28-year-old accountant; Najwan, a 25-year-old Yemeni woman; Mohamed Assana, a Yemeni American living in Ashburn, Virginia; Buthaina Al-Iryiani, HIV and youth specialist for UNICEF in Yemen; and Mohammed Qubaydi, Professor at Sana’a University and head of the foreign affairs department of Yemen’s ruling political party.

+ Prospects For Reform In Yemen

Deborah Amos speaks with Sean Carberry about his trip to Yemen and the prospects for reform in the country.

+ Yemen's Turbulent History

Deborah Amos examines Yemen’s turbulent history of colonial control and tribal conflict. With Bernard Haykel, Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University.

+ The Attack Of The USS Cole

Sailors aboard the USS Cole tell the story of October 12, 2000, the day the ship was attacked.

Guests include retired US Navy Commander Kirk Lippold, Lieutenant Elroy Newton, and retired Master Chief James Parlier.

+ US Policy In Yemen

Deborah Amos speaks with two former US Government officials about U.S. policy in Yemen after the bombing of the USS Cole.

Guests include Juan Carlos Zarate, former Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Adviser for Combating Terrorism from 2005 to 2009, and Thomas Krajeski, Ambassador to the Republic of Yemen from 2004 to 2007.