Yemen is the poorest state in the Middle East and has been in conflict during the larger part of the century. Today the country suffers from the biggest humanitarian crisis in modern history, which is a consequence of a war that took off after the Arab Spring. The causes of the war have been presented trough different narratives which claims that the war is a "proxy war" between Saudi Arabia and Iran, or as a war between Sunni and Shia Muslims, or as a consequence of Al-Qaida's extension. This study challenges these narratives and gives another explanation, which takes several aspects into account when explaining the war's causes. This study strives to answer the question "what are the causes of the war in Yemen?" and does so by using the theory of states and nations by Benjamin Miller, and by using three levels: local, regional and global. The study concludes that the war can be explained through Miller's theory of State-to-Nation Balance, due to that the state Yemen is missing a nation, and due to that groups within the state does not identify with the state. The study also discusses the impact of Iran, Saudi Arabia and USA, but it also questions Miller's concept of a nation and the adequacy of using it when studying clans and tribes.

Cette étude se propose de répondre à la problématique liée à la généricité d’un corpus de maqāmāt de type munāẓarāt paysagères composées au Yémen à l’époque postclassique. L’appellation maqāma devient, en effet, de plus en plus englobante au point de s’étendre à la munāẓara, ce qui nous permet de parler d’une évolution générique par régime de transformation. L’analyse de ces œuvres permet aussi de montrer comment ces textes revendiquent une appartenance et un rattachement à la notion d’adab, point essentiel pour la compréhension générique de ces œuvres. Cette étude se propose d’analyser également les représentations paysagères qui sont au cœur de ces munāẓarāt. Elle aborde les éléments constitutifs du paysage en tenant compte de l’organisation de ces représentations sur l’axe vertical et l’axe horizontal, mais aussi en fonction de différents sens sollicités : la vue, l’odorat et l’ouïe. Tous ces éléments nous poussent à considérer les représentations paysagères présentes dans les descriptions du Paradis coranique ainsi que dans des descriptions similaires présentes dans la poésie arabe classique. L’étude de ces corpus montre, en dernier lieu, que le but des auteurs n’est pas celui de créer des représentations bucoliques sur la description de la nature mais que derrière la simple description paysagère, ces textes sont la plupart du temps porteurs d’un message situé à un second niveau de lecture (politique, religieux, etc.). / This work aims at studying the question of the literary genre of a corpus of maqāmāt of the kind “landscape munāẓarāt” written in Yemen in the Post-Classical era. The name maqāma has become always more comprehensive until it extended to the munāẓara. Hence, we can speak of a generic evolution due to processing. The analysis of such texts allows us to show why they claim to belong to the notion of adab, which is an essential point for understanding the genre of these works. This study deals also with the landscape representations that are at the heart of these munāẓarāt. It approaches the constituent elements of the landscape according to the organisation of the representation - on the vertical or on the horizontal axis – and also through the different senses appealed to the perception: sight, smell and hearing. All these elements lead us to consider landscape representations in the Koranic description of Paradise and in other similar descriptions in Classical Arabic poems. Finally, the study of this corpus shows that the aim of the authors is not a bucolic representation of nature. Instead, behind the simple landscape description, most of texts convey a message related to politics, religion, etc. located in a second level of reading.

The history of southern Yemen has been a unique story of various political factions aligning and realigning themselves in waves of intra-elite conflict, based on the setting of formal and informal institutions. This paper builds on existing literature about informal institutions to analyze the role that political institutions have played in promoting and preventing these conflicts since it became independent in 1967. By using a temporal analysis of historical and contemporary institutions, this paper asks how political institutions have impacted southern Yemen since it gained independence and how these institutions have changed since the start of the current civil war. It additionally looks at the statements of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) in the context of the current civil war to understand how both types of institutions are operating today. This paper will thus argue that the discrepancy between what formal state institutions claim to do and what they are able to creates the space for informal institutions to develop. Furthermore, it will argue that the dialectic between formal and informal institutions can explain periods of relative stability and instability along with the current conditions in the civil war have allowed informal institutions to prosper.

This paper has two purposes. The first one is to explain the rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia by analyzing four cases which has brought about and consolidated their power struggle. This gives the reader a historic background of the two countries relations, underlying reasons for their rivalry and a greater picture of their interests in the Middle East. It also leads up to the second purpose, which is to in depth examine Iran and Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy in Yemen, the latest conflict between the two countries. The papers research design is a qualitative case study with realism as its theoretical framework. The paper concludes that the Iranian revolution set off the rivalry due to Iran’s willingness to export its revolution and its Shia ideology to neighboring countries in the region. Saudi Arabia’s support to Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War helped contain Iran’s hegemonic ambitions and made Saudi Arabia the most dominant power in the Middle East. In Syria, Iran has a lot at stake if the regime falls, which is why Saudi Arabia is trying to topple Bashar Al-Assad. The execution of Nimr al-Nimr further deteriorated tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia. in Yemen, Iran seeks to expand its power to the Arabian Peninsula, whereas Saudi Arabia seeks to push out Iranian influence and regain its dominance.

The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is a man-made famine. The concept of famine crimes has been introduced to problematise and criminalise conduct that leads to the creation of famine. According to an analytical framework proposed by Marcus (2003) there are four categories of famine crimes, which constitute four degrees of conduct through which famines are created, sustained or not prevented. A pivotal role in the creation of the famine in Yemen is played by Saudi Arabia, that relies on the import of military equipment to conduct a military intervention in Yemen. Through Common Position 2008/944/CFSP, the European Member States committed themselves to eight criteria against which arms licence applications are tested. This aims to prevent arms deliveries to questionable receivers, yet various EU Member States export military equipment to Saudi Arabia. In this thesis, the famine crimes framework is applied to foreign actors in a case study of the EU arms trade to Saudi Arabia between 2015 and 2019. The research project answers the question: what insights about the European Union’s role in the creation of famine in Yemen can be gained from the application of the famine crimes framework to the European Union’s arms trade to Saudi Arabia? Since Saudi Arabia violated international humanitarian law in Yemen and used EU-produced arms to do so, the Common Position requires EU Member States to pursue restraint in arms export to Saudi Arabia. Accordingly, the number of licences that were approved by European Member States, as well as their value, declined after 2015. However, there were notable fluctuations and the Member States adopted differing approaches. As such, the EU as a collective body appeared unable to prevent arms exports to Saudi Arabia. In the application of the famine crimes framework, it becomes clear that this inability can be interpreted as a famine crime.Altogether, this exploratory study provides insights into the role of foreign actors in the creation of famine by applying the famine crimes framework. Further research on the extent to which the EU as a collective body could enhance compliance with the Common Position and prevent exports to questionable receivers could be performed to better categorise its conduct within the framework. Further research could also explore the role of other foreign actors and apply the famine crimes framework to other case studies.

This thesis applies the concept of religious (national) identity to the cases of Saudi Arabia, Iran and their proxy allies - state and non-state actors - in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. The aim was to show that in the Middle East, Sunni and Shiite affiliations matter in the relationship between the regional powers and respective proxies, as opposing to realist statement that alliances, conflicts and political developments are only governed by pragmatic power interests. Additionally, the work examines whether religious national identities have impact on the dynamics of proxy conflicts. Overall, the objective was to establish comprehensive image of how ideational/constructivist and pragmatic/realist factors work in combination to influence alliances, enmities and conflicts in the Middle East. Using qualitative methods of research, religious (national) identities of Saudi Arabia, Iran and their allies in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen were constructed so as to create ideational and realist points of departure, and then interlinked to show how convergence of religious identities helps in creating durable alliances if used in targeted manner as a strategic tool which can help safeguard national interests. The work shows notable differences in the use of this tool between Saudi Arabia and Iran, suggesting that it...

This master's thesis analyses the different narratives constructed by three actors, towards the war in Yemen. The thesis will draw on the constructivist theory to answer the question: how do different actors construct the war in Yemen and the humanitarian crisis in their discourses and narratives? To answer this question, the theoretical part defines different concepts, such as identity, norms, national interest, strategic narrative and discourse. It presents the constructivist understanding of identity as a social construction, shaped by collective components of knowledge, symbols, language and norms. The empirical part attempts to identify the narratives constructed by the Houthis, Saudi Arabia and the EU towards the war in Yemen, which provoked a Saudi-led military intervention when the Houthis seized the capital and declared the establishment of a new government in March 2015. The Houthis consider the intervention as an aggression to Yemen and as the main cause of suffering of the Yemeni people. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia presents the crisis as Iran's attempt to control the country and spread its influence throughout the region. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia argues that it intervened only as a response to the demands of the internationally recognized government under president Hadi. Finally, the EU...

The purpose of this study is to examine why the US is involved in Yemen’s civil war and what factors are contributing to its involvement, particularly if the US involvement in Yemen is based on self-interest or humanitarian motives. As a qualitive desk study, this research uses rational choice theory and the humanitarian intervention framework as its analytical framework.The research results highlight that the US objectives are first and foremost following an “America first” approach, with specific economic and political benefits, such as maintaining a good bilateral relationship with Saudi Arabia, arms sales and the purchase of oil which are clearly prioritized over humanitarian aspects to protect the civilians in Yemen.

This diploma thesis deals with the relationship between two regional powers in the Middle East - Iran and Saudi Arabia. Middle East is a conflict-prone region with a delicate balance of power. We work with the assumption that a specific combination of internal and external factors caused the rise of Iran as a regional power. The balance of power in the Middle East has thus changed and Iran has started to pose a threat to Saudi Arabia that needs to be balanced. First, we analyze the theoretical concepts of power and region in international relations and subsequently we propose a definition of a regional power. The theory of balance of threat by Stephen M. Walt is used as a framework for the analysis of the Iranian threat. Last chapter of this thesis is devoted to three case studies. Here, we analytically describe particular examples of Iranian threat and its balancing by Saudi Arabia in Bahrain, Yemen and Lebanon.

The IRGC, or the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Iran have utilized soft power to increase their influence within the Middle East. By using military superiority; ideological influence; and trade, both the Iran and the IRGC established dependency between themselves and patron states. Of these patron states, the research focuses on Iraq; Syria; and Yemen, and how Iran and the IRGC affect them through soft power. This research suggests that Iran and the IRGC is using the disability of the aforementioned states to increase their own influence by making them dependent on Iranian military supplies; cultural indoctrination to align with Iranian ideology; and economic dependent on Iran. As Iran's influence grows within these states, its power in the Middle East grows and becomes a security risk for Saudi Arabia; Israel; and any other regime that does not have its interests align with the Iranian regime.