Abstract:

When Yemenis demonstrated almost 5 years ago, shouting "The People Want the Fall of the Regime," they didn't know how complex the situation is, and how regional and international powers will determine their future. As one of the objectives of the revolution, Yemenis considered that by removing President Salih from power, the revolution would guarantee their freedom. But the politics of the Arab World and the Middle East proved differently. Since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire almost a century ago, the Arab World has been subjected to the hegemony of the great powers. Thus, the real obstacle for democratic transition within the Middle Eastern countries comes from outside rather than domestic threats. The objective of this study is to demonstrate that the revolutionary leader’s reliance on foreign powers to change the political system and to the revolutionary objectives was counterproductive in which constituted a huge obstacle in achieving those objectives, paving the way to civil war in Yemen, turning the struggle for freedom to struggle for survival.

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