The Yemeni opposition signed a deal today creating groundwork for the removal of President Ali Abdullah Saleh from power. Although small differences remain, Saleh is expected to sign the deal in a transfer of power.
This puts the U.S. in an awkward position yet again (the first being Mubarak of Egypt). Another strategic ally, which had clung to power through force and oppression had lost legitimacy, and the U.S. had to bail on their support. Although the U.S. had urged Saleh to sign the deal ending his tenure in power, U.S. interests have an uncertain future in Yemen. In recent years, Yemen, with poverty and vast tracts of lawlessness in its tribal areas, had become a training and recruitment ground for Al Qaeda. Saleh had enjoyed relative stability through deals with tribal leaders, resource distribution for loyalty, and brutal oppression of opposition, up until the Arab Spring when many thousands of protesters challenged his authority. Yemen had also become the recipient of billions of dollars of anti terrorism aid from the United States, and Saleh had also let the U.S. conduct air strikes against Qaeda leaders in his territory last year (although it was kept secret until months later).
With a new, democratically elected leader comes policy change; the policy views of the public (and thus their elected leaders) could contrast American interests. With Yemen in deep poverty, these policy changes could lead to an increased breeding ground for Qaeda and other extremist interests; often people recruited for extremist activity are already in desperate situations, and are prone to manipulation to achieve change. It is unclear whether Yemen will continue receiving U.S. Aid in exchange for anti-terrorism policy, which should be interesting to follow in the future.
Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/05/21/yemen.political.deal/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_world
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