The minimum you must know
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration intervened militarily in Yemen in January 2024. All sides later de-escalated. Now a new U.S. presidential administration is assuming command and control who is leading on peaceful Abraham Accords for Israel, which the United States hopes can improve the U.S. relationship with the entire region, and return parties within the region to peaceful cooperation. (Please scroll down the Vatican peace page for more information on the interfaith peace agreement written by President Trump's family, personally.)
It would help if countries globally would surface peace in the news - or at least neglect to surface concepts to the contrary. There have been virtually no U.S. casualties in the region, so there’s every reason for the United States to prefer peace. This writer urges Muslim countries to introduce concepts about “peace” and “mutual surrender” to the U.S. media. The progress in mutual understanding and western media patterning can benefit countries globally forever. Telling the media that “slam” means “peace” and “Islam” means “mutual surrender” would be an astonishingly helpful thing to do right now. (The President of Yemen has already set a great example for all leaders by patterning “peace” at the United Nations - see below.)
CNN heroically used the word “surrender” that way in graphics writing recently. That doesn’t mean that peace and mutual surrender will necessarily follow. But that was a historic first in media communication.
All sides in the Yemen civil conflict are aligned with the Palestinians, and therefore - for a short time - made shipping near the Yemeni coast difficult for U.S. and European vessels in response to the conflict in Gaza. But the Yemeni people have worked tireless for peace, and clearly want and deserve peace. Peace and reconstruction of Yemeni cities would benefit the population substantially. That's the right way for the region to proceed with international support.
The United States and Europe do need commodities and goods to pass easily through the water ways there. So one strategy that might become successful is for all sides in Yemen to promise to protect trade routes for NATO. That way NATO doesn't have a reason to be in the region anymore. The United States prefers not to be drawn into foreign state affairs, as we learned from the recent voluntary NATO departure from Afghanistan first promised by the Trump administration and later followed through on by the Biden administration.
Here are President Rashad Mohammed Al-Alimi's comments to the United Nations.
Rashad Mohammed Al-Alimi
President of the Presidential
Leadership Council
79th Session of the United Nations
His Excellency
Rashad Mohammed Al-Alimi
President of the Presidential Leadership Council
United Nations 78th Session
The United States and China were both leading on peace for Yemen for several years prior to the events in Israel. Presidents Biden and Xi were and still are demonstrating extraordinary integrity by bringing together Iran (traditionally a security competitor of the United States) and Saudi Arabia (traditionally a security alliance for the United States) to make peace between them in neighboring Yemen.
Iran and Saudi Arabia are regional superpowers that were supporting opposing proxies in a civil conflict. But that past isn't becoming the future. They have been encouraged by Presidents Biden and Xi to achieve a potentially historic peace there. Hostilities have been dramatically reduced and poverty significantly eliminated.
This writer believes the United States was improving relations with every country in the region as a consequence of its humanitarian and diplomatic efforts for Yemen and is eager for a return to that attitude from all sides:
Saudi Arabia and Iran started making a public peace with each other around 2018, when Russia hosted leaders from both countries in Moscow. Those meetings were followed by rhetorical outreach in newspaper articles and television broadcasts for peace by both governments. NATO remains aligned with Saudi Arabia and against Iran. But that's no longer necessary to protect Saudi Arabia from Iran as a result of the progress between the governments. Hopefully NATO will substantially improve relations with Iran next. That's obviously the right thing for NATO to do.
The populations of Iran and Saudi Arabia get along well. Tens of thousands of Saudi Arabians & Iranians pray peacefully together every year at the Hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. So the governments are following the lead of their populations in being at peace with one another in Yemen and throughout the Persian Gulf and Middle East.
Yemen borders Saudi Arabia and is easily reached from Iran. There was initially more internal conflict there than anywhere else on earth. Poverty precipitated instability. The country then attracted others to the fight because Yemen is located along a waterway that's important to global trade. Regional and foreign superpowers became involved, and supported opposing sides. One proxy sought a parliamentary democracy similar to Iran's and China's, and the other a president or king very friendly to the royal government in Saudi Arabia. Resolving those differences peacefully wasn't an easy task. So the United States, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia deserve tremendous credit for working together for stability there. Russia deserves credit, too.
According to newspaper reports, there were over a hundred thousand casualties in Yemen over the course of a decade. Many political prisoners were also taken. Yemen recently freed them all. Close to a thousand people were released in March 2023, a historic development that shows that real peace is developing.
United Nations member states can support the Yemen people in this progress. Perhaps a lasting peace treaty can be reached for Yemen that formalizes the peace that's occurring there. Yemen may also need humanitarian aid for at least several years. The Saudi and Iranian governments can't support the people on their own. Yemen may appreciate and need the involvement of additional countries.
The King of Saudi Arabia insists on Peace for Yemen
The President of Iran insists on peace for Yemen
According to newspaper reports, Yemen used to suffer from malnutrition and consequently disease. The population used to be in greater need of more humanitarian support than virtually any other country. Tens of millions of people were desperate. Basic needs went unmet for close to a decade. But currently their economy is improving in comparative peacetime. and humanitarian assistance is reaching people there and helping a lot. This is contributing to stability in the relationship between Iran & Saudi Arabia, as well as in U. S. - China relations. The Iranian & Saudi Arabian governments have individually given more generously to support the Yemen people than all other governments combined. But this year the United States and China may be doing as much, too. It may be important for other countries to follow their lead.
According to a U.S. State Department press release in January 2023, the United States recently became involved in peace building “for 25 activities to strengthen local leaders, organizations, and networks to serve as neutral arbitrators and peace builders… [to help] youth, women, discuss and resolve long-standing conflicts, raise awareness about discrimination, and bring people together to discuss solutions for a peaceful Yemen.” Clearly President Biden and the entire White House team led extraordinarily with respect to the country.
The press release also said that the United States increasingly is helping to beautify and make Yemen livable, by providing economic support to “Yemeni communities… to repair aging water networks, upgrade power utility grids, and form groups where young people learned to express themselves and become leaders.” This is a phenomenal attitude from the United States. It's an amazing thing to do.
