Yemenis are repeatedly mentioning the old saying: “Egypt’s present is Yemen’s future.” This statement proved true at the beginning of last century when Yemen established a monarchy after the rise of King Fuad in Egypt. Furthermore, Yemen adopted a national, military regime after Egypt's late President Gamal Abdel Nasser took power. Then, when former President Hosni Mubarak assumed power, Yemen formed a regime affiliated with the West. Most recently, the Yemeni revolution flared up in 2011, days after the Egyptian one erupted. For a long time, Yemen has been molded by the Egyptian model to the extent that some curricula in Yemeni public schools were reproduced from Egyptian ones.
Lately, the Egyptian crisis has rippled into Yemen, and has been addressed by the official rhetoric of the elite, public, activists and partisans. The discussion can be heard everywhere — cabs, buses and nightly Ramadan gatherings. Seculars and liberals gloated over the Muslim Brotherhood’s loss, provoking responses from Yemen's Brotherhood. Yemen's own issues — regardless of how delicate they may be — were rarely discussed in comparison with Egypt's. This was further highlighted when Sanaa barely spoke of an important event commemorated by the South Yemen Movement, the July 7 anniversary of the 1994 civil war against the south. Usually this event attracts media attention, but this time, Egypt stole the limelight.
