Helen Lackner

An independent researcher, she has worked and lived in Yemen for over fifteen years, five of them in the RDPY between 1977 and 1982. She has just published Yemen in Crisis, Autocracy, Neo-Liberalism and the Disintegration of a State (Saqi, 2017).

The Houthis in Yemen Gain the World’s Attention Helen Lackner · 10 January By bombing Yemen and risking an extension of the conflict, the United States and its allies claim that they want to stop the attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea by the Houthists. The Houthis, who set themselves up as the sole defenders of the Palestinian cause, have solid assets at home (...)
Saudi Arabia-Yemen Relations: A Long History of Mistrust Helen Lackner · June 2022 Nearby Yemen and Saudi Arabia dominate the Arabian Peninsula demographically, with similar populations of around 30 million, and their respective policies have implications for the entire region. Historical legacy, economic situation and political developments explain the fundamental tensions (...)
Yemen. Unfiltered Neoliberal Policies Have Worsened the Water Crisis Helen Lackner · June 2021 Water resources are drying up in Yemen, a country ravaged by war for six years. Climate change is to blame, and also—above all—an agricultural policy that has favoured large landowners. The latter favour high value-added crops that are very water-intensive.
Yemen, quite aside from its (...)
Timid Initiatives to Bring Yemen out of War Helen Lackner · April 2021 Yemen has recently returned to international headlines. The UN has admitted that famine is affecting Yemenis, the Huthi movement has intensified its offensive on Marib. Following the new Biden administration, the Saudis have also announced their proposals for a ceasefire towards ending the (...)
Yemen. The Impossible Way Out of the War Helen Lackner · May 2020 In the early months of 2020, the already disastrous situation in Yemen worsened further, far from the eyes of the world, which was almost exclusively concerned with the Covid-19 pandemic. The huthi military offensive, the proclamation of autonomy for the South and devastating floods added to (...)
Yemen. Failed Attempts To Restore Peace Helen Lackner · January 2020 Two months after the signature of the Riyadh Agreement between Yemen’s internationally recognised government (IRG) and the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), what is the situation on the ground? Coming 13 months after that of the UN-Sponsored Stockholm Agreement, it is appropriate (...)
Yemen. A Misleading Withdrawal From the Emirates Helen Lackner · August 2019 The United Arab Emirates has announced the withdrawal of its forces from Yemen. But behind the statements, there is a desire to find a new strategy to emerge from an endless war, which is not without tensions with the Saudi ally.
Once again military developments have brought Yemen back to (...)
Yemen. Atrocious Record of an Endless War Helen Lackner · March 2019 As the Yemeni people face the fifth year of their internationalised civil war, what has changed in the past four years?
To start with, a few figures: more than 60,000 people have been killed by directly war-related actions throughout the country, most of them by air strikes from the (...)
All Those Who Want the War in Yemen To Continue Helen Lackner · October 2018 “It is high time for this war to end and it is also important, it is even France’s priority (...), that humanitarian aid can pass,” Françoise Parly, French Minister of the Armed Forces said on 30 October. Yet, to date, none of the foreign powers engaged in Yemen have really acted in this (...)
Socialist Revolution in Arabia Helen Lackner · November 2017 A few weeks after the defeat of Arab countries against Israel in June 1967, Southern Yemen gained independence following an insurgent movement against the British presence. The most radical socialist experiment in the recent history of the Middle East was about to begin.
Fifty years ago, on (...)