by Chris Bodenner
Yesterday the embattled Yemeni dictator made his first public appearance since his assassination attempt, prompting both supporters and opponents to take to the streets. Jay Ulfelder thinks Saleh's address is too little, too late – Yemen is already a collapsed state:
By state collapse, I mean a situation in which an internationally recognized state fails to provide public order in at least half of its territory or the capital city for an extended period of time–say, a month or more. Failures of public order are indicated by: pervasive lawlessness, evidenced by behaviors like rioting, looting, and vigilantism; the successful provision of public order by an organized challenger, usually either a rebel group or breakaway regional government; or some combination thereof. By my reckoning, the clock started ticking for Yemen after Saleh fled in early June; a month later, public order still has not been restored, and conditions only seem to be deteriorating further.
He goes on to differentiate between types of state collapse to suggest that Yemen doesn't have to go the way of Somalia.
The Dish 