Same old same old same old problem:
Yemen's real problem is the weakness of the state: central government's inability to deliver leads people to ignore the state and go their own way. The result is what Khaled Fattah, a researcher at St Andrews university, describes as a "self-cancelling" state…
The difficult question, of course, is what kind of support Yemen should get.
The Washington Post does have one or two sensible suggestions – "Independent media and civil society groups seeking to broaden political freedoms could be supported and shielded" – but then it says "Government forces could be trained not just in counterterrorism operations but in the broader counterinsurgency mission". This sounds alarmingly like a proposal to help Salih fight his private battles with the Houthis and the southerners.
The crucial point here is that the Salih regime is part of the problem, so any aid should be directed towards the Yemeni people and not towards propping up their ailing government.
The Dish 