Civil War in Yemen - Coursework Example

Yemen Civil War The current fighting in Yemen has a big threat to a widespread displacement of people, death, and hunger,resulting to a humanitarian crisis. The nation, which is in the Arabian Peninsula has a population of 25 million people is in war with air strikes by the Saudi militants according to Naylor (n.p). The rebels from Houthi have seized many parts of Yemen territory and interfered with the U.S supported Government under the presidency of Abed Rabbo. The current situation is bad as the Iranian-backed Houthi pushed the Yemen president out of power. In addition to the threat brought by the war, an al-Qaeda group has control over a broad part of the territory (n.p). The US and all the other Western powers evacuated their diplomatic and military from the country, and a Saudi-led coalition is trying to restore the lawful government to power through airstrikes. Worried about the situation in Yemen, the US president Barrack Obama requested me for my advice based on some questions. My responses are in the form of a discussion as highlighted below. A. The historical factors that have shaped America’s relationship with Yemen, and the Saudi and Iranian powers struggling over her The US has always had a big influence in the Middle East countries despite the physical distance separating them. For instance, throughout the 20th Century, the US had strategic interests in the Middle East countries, such as Iran and Iraq on various issues such as the diplomatic interventions and full-blown wars (Byrne 669). The other American interests, such the access to the Middle Eastern oil always make the president intervene whenever there are some crisis and wars. There are also strong cultural ties between American Jews, Arab-Americans, Iranian Americans, and the Turkish Americans that always find a way to voice out their views to the US foreign policy. The US always has some global interest, especially in the countries with large amount mineral deposits such oil. The US uses its diplomatic, military power, and economic power to in the Middle East to support its national interests. Since the World War 1 ended, the US has enjoyed a positive reputation in the Middle East region (Burron, 12). After the war, the US made some political arrangement with the locals especially supervision as they acquired their independence. A number of Iranians viewed Shah as autocratic and oppressive, who sent his police, SAVAK to silence the opposition voices. According to Roy (534) the hatred of Shah by the citizens tarred his American supporters leading to the storming of the US embassy in Tehran in 1979. In this case, the Anti-American Passion held some five people hostages for more than a year in the Embassy. The other historical scenario involved Saddam Hussein and the US government, in which the US offered support to Saddam during the Iran-Iraq war between 1980 and 1988 (Fiorina, Morris, Paul, and Stephen). During this time, Irans new post-revolutionary Islamic regime became a big threat to the region. Recently Hussein is one of the Americans anger since his invasion of Kuwait in 1990 leading to the Gulf War (The Last Refuge n.p). He developed weapons of mass destruction, and the US bombed Iraqi during the war. The US also put an embargo on Iraq to force Hussein from power and prevent more development of the weapons due to their destructive effect on the health of Iraq people (Fiorina, Morris, Paul, and Stephen). The Arabs still have grievances against the US due to its issues with Iraq. The history has a big impact on the position the US takes as it might result in more attacks on its country and resources if offers more diplomatic and other forms of support to Yemen. Yemen enemies might attack the US in revenge for any support accorded to Yemen. B. The impact of fallen Yemen on United States foreign policy and national security There are various relations between the US, and here are various relations between the US and Yemen in terms of commercial relations and the support offered by the Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh. There are weak bilateral relationships between the two countries in which about 18% of Yemen supports the US leadership, 59% disagreeing with it, and 23 who are uncertain (Pbs.org n.p). The war in Yemen may lead to more negative impacts on the US national security and foreign policy since the US is withdrawing its diplomats, personnel, and military from Yemen. The first action of the US support of the Yemen soldiers in the fight might lead to retaliatory attacks by the Yemen enemies threatening the security situation in America (Pollack n.p). Helping the Yemen government in fighting their enemies will put America in a bad taste with Iraq leading to attacks on the US properties and citizens. On the other hand the withdrawal of the US military, diplomats, and personnel from the war-prone Yemen will lead to enmity between Yemen and the US, Yemen might plan a retaliatory attack on the Americans leading to a big threat to the US national security. The supporters of Yemen might join Yemen to attack the US citizens and Property to revenge for the US action during the war. The defence operations between Yemen and the US will face more challenges if Yemen falls due to the war. The relations were improving, and the war might bring to an end the good relations the two had, a factor that can result in a great threat to the US national security. The reason behind this is that Yemen is a great partner in the war on terrorism supported by the US. Yemen also receives foreign aid from the US making their ties stronger. The current war might interfere with the foreign policies between the US and Yemen leading to a strained relationship. Some foreign policies involving the US support of Yemen democracy and governance programming on conflict resolution strategies will be hit by Yemen fall. The conflict resolutions were for ending the revenge killings among the tribes. Other activities include the US military training of Yemen soldiers to enhance their defence skills. The Yemen government was in agreement with the US government to fund a rehabilitation program to support prisoners to help deradicalize them sing clerics and social workers (Burron 6). The Yemen strategic plan formulated in 2009 review of the US policy towards Yemen on security issues and fighting the Al-Qaeda group will be affected if Yemen falls. The result of this will be increased insecurity and Al-Qaeda attacks on the Americans. The Us government has offered support to the Gulf Cooperation Council plan in which Washington offered financial and political support. These efforts will be useless if Yemen faces destruction due to the current war. The US policy of offering USAID to Yemen will also face a blow due to the insecurity and finally fail to fight against the al-Qaeda terror group. In case, Yemen falls the federal government can only withdraw their diplomats, citizens, and military from Yemen to reduce the number of casualties. C. How President Obama should use the media President Obama should develop his strategies on how to address the issues concerning the US and Yemen in ending the stalemate. To deliver his message, the president should use the media to communicate his message to the citizens of the US and Yemen. However, he should be careful as some of the media personnel might distort the messages before they reach the audience. The president can make use of the internet by creating a website to post his strategies. The website should be open to the US citizens for them to provide comments and raise their views on his issues. The website should be secure to avoid people posting inciting messages, which is against the ethics of media communication. The president can also use the social media such as his Facebook page to share his views and allow people to comment and give their solutions. The other social media that the president can use is the Twitter where many people can follow his twits on security and development matters concerning the nation. There are many people with Twitter accounts, which show that the president will gather many views and sample the good ones. These views will help him make the best decision for his citizens as far as security matters are concerned. Posting his speech and playing on YouTube will help people to follow his speech and not the tone of his voice, which depicts the seriousness of the matter. His strategies will be very clear when presented in the form of videos other than in writing. The president can also use the radio and television to reach people who may not have access to internet services. Televisions will provide a platform in which the president can display his seriousness of his strategies through the tone of his voice. He can also show pictures of his projects meant to initiate his strategies for the US and Yemen. The strategies may include security operations and ways of fighting terrorism. The radio will serve those people in the remote areas and foreign countries, which are underdeveloped, for instance, the US citizens working as volunteers in the underdeveloped countries such as Africa. The newspapers can also carry the presidents message in a written format to people who like detailed information. However, the president should be wary of some of the media, such as the newspapers since the editors might interfere with the content. The other media the President should be wary of is the website since the terrorist might use it to post their terror messages and frighten the citizens. D. The American Political Parties say on the Current issue and any Groups the President should worry about. A number of politicians are commenting on the behavior of the US involvement in the war in Yemen although it later withdrew its military and personnel from the country. One of the Pentagon officials sees the intervention at odds with the other US foreign policies in Yemen. The issue makes Yemen very unstable due to the involvement of the Al-Qaeda and the Coalition airstrikes by Iraq and Syria. According to the official, none of the nations involved in the Yemen bombing, have any treaties concerning defense matters with the US (Tharoor n.p). The US has no obligation to offer support of any kind especially on defense to Yemen as it might lead to retaliatory attacks on the US. Even with the US having an alliance with Yemen, there is no need for the military to over any support since it puts the life of the American citizens in danger. The Pentagon official sees no need for America to involve itself in a war in a country that is miles away. Other quotes from some anonymous officials are against Americas involvement in the Yemen War. According to their views, the president should not offer any military support on the war-prone country (Tharoor n.p). Supporting the country will bring trouble to America and its citizens leading to loss of life and property. The officials regarded the presidents action on the matter as a troubling doctrine of America and that the white house lacked the agency to do something about it. Climbing on board and offering unmatched US military support for the war was the worst thing the president did. The officials cannot understand why the white house should sign up and offer back up to the Saudi-led Intervention in the war, which is not in the country. The president should worry about the al-Qaida terrorist group since Yemen was hosting some of its members and protecting them. The war involved some of the members from the country where al-Qaida terror group originate. The terror group is notorious for several bombings in various countries including the US. The US government and her president should also worry about the coalition attackers of Yemen. As they may attack America in revenge for the initial assistance, they offered to Yemen. The group is dangerous and has powerful weapons that can cause massive destruction of property and loss of lives. To deal with these groups, the president should ensure that his intelligence department is alert and report any signs of attacks by any of the groups. The presidents should also advice all the ambassador, especially in the Middle East countries to take caution and report any unusual happenings to the intelligence unit. The other factor is for the government to secure its borders and the major offices and places visited by many people. The other factor that the president can consider is engaging in foreign policies that will help in bringing peace between America and her enemies. These factors will help in tightening security o the US citizens and her allies all over the world. E. Where is public opinion on the question of US policy towards Yemen? How can the president use and shape public opinion regarding this matter? A number of people think that the American policies on Yemen are to blame for the attacks, for instance, the assistance offered to Yemens enemies. The policies with Yemen not to harbour any Al-Qaeda group member in its country might have triggered the Coalition attacks on Yemen. According to the public opinion, Americas interest in the Middle East resources such as oil is the major cause of the conflict (Tharoor n.p). America concentrates on the short-term policies, which do not solve the problems faced by the Middle East countries such as Yemen. Yemen is the home of the Al-Qaeda terror group in the Middle East making the civil war to disrupt the American systems aimed to suppress the threat. Some people do not understand why Obama should offer such kind of support to Yemen and Iraq according to Tharoor (n.p). Their suggestion is that America should shift the attention it offers to the Middle East countries to Africa instead. The US should try to contain the war in Yemen with the help of Saudi Arabia since the country is willing to offer assistance to Yemen. There is a lot of fear among the people that Iran might take over Yemen, which will be a disaster for the Middle East countries. The opinion writer Eugene Robinson feels that Obamas policy towards the region was with a lot of modesty, cautious, situational, and incremental (Robinson n.p). Obama uses negotiations instead of airstrikes and does not like to involve his military to join in the wars. The withdrawal of the US military from Yemen after the war broke out shows that the president is not ready for wars. According to Eugene, Obama did the right thing to evacuate the US diplomat and military from the war prone country to avoid casualties (Robinson n.p). The President is not to blame for what is happening in Yemen, as he does not support the war. The president can shape the public opinion on the matter by stating the position of the US in relation to the Yemen war and warning the public against hate speech. The president can also analyse the opinion and adopt some of the positive issues raised by the citizens. Conclusion The current fighting in Yemen has caused displacement of people and hunger creating a humanitarian crisis. The US has always had a big influence in the Middle East countries despite the physical distance separating them. The first action of the US support of the Yemen soldiers in the fight might lead to retaliatory attacks by the Yemen enemies threatening the security situation in America. The Yemen government was in agreement with the US government to fund a rehabilitation program to support prisoners to help deradicalize them sing clerics and social workers. A number of politicians are commenting on the behavior of the US involvement in the war in Yemen although it later withdrew its military and personnel from the country. A number of people think that the American policies on Yemen are to blame for the attacks, for instance, the assistance offered to Yemens enemies. The president can also analyse the opinion and adopt some of the positive issues raised by the citizens. Works Cited Burron, Neil A. The New Democracy Wars. Farnham: Ashgate Pub., 2012. Print. Byrne, Malcolm. The Iran–Iraq War. Iranian Studies 46.4 (2013): 669-671. Web. Fiorina, Morris P, Paul E Peterson, and D. Stephen Voss. Americas New Democracy. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2004. Print. Naylor, Hugh. Fighting In Yemen Is Creating A Humanitarian Crisis. The Washington Post 2015. Web. 8 Apr. 2015. Pbs.org,. Global Connections . U.S. Foreign Policy | PBS. N.p., 2015. Web. 8 Apr. 2015. Pollack, Kenneth. U.S. Policy Toward A Turbulent Middle East. The Brookings Institution. N.p., 2015. Web. 8 Apr. 2015. Robinson, Eugene. U.S. Policies On The Middle East Are Inconsistent But Wise. The Washington Post 2015. Web. 8 Apr. 2015. Roy, K. Book Review: The Iran-Iraq War By Rob Johnson. War in History 19.4 (2012): 533-535. Web. Tharoor, Ishaan. Forget What You’Re Hearing. The Civil War In Yemen Is Not A Sectarian Conflict. The Washington Post 2015. Web. 8 Apr. 2015. The Last Refuge: Yemen, Al-Qaeda, And Americas War In Arabia. Choice Reviews Online 50.10 (2013): 50-5773-50-5773. Web. Read More