Yemeni state institutions suffered a collapse after the fragile political process sponsored by Gulf states and the UN Security Council ground to a halt after three years. This collapse put a definitive end to Western praise for the Yemeni paradigm, considered by some as the model for solving conflicts in the region.
The Gulf Initiative succeeded in transferring power and ending armed hostilities in Yemen, but it has failed to instill peace. The cause of that failure stems from the core tenet being legally and in other ways flawed to the extent that it is difficult to rectify. Perhaps this difficulty stems from the unattainable desire to placate all factions at the expense of all other considerations, and irrespective of the Yemenis’ dream to build a true state, or perhaps because the initiative did not include an economic or development plan that could win the Yemeni people’s trust. Furthermore, the regional and international commitment to Yemen’s unity, security and stability was not accompanied by real, long-term plans, but by local anesthesia that numbed the pain here and there.
If Yemenis and others around the world truly want to save whatever and whomever remains in Yemen, they must adopt a new political and economic equation — a kind of Yemeni Noah’s Ark — leading to an intelligent, technical and economic Marshall Plan extending to 2025, during which time a state could be built. The plan should be similar to the one adopted for Germany after World War II in being an intelligent, nontraditional mechanism that intersects but remains unrelated to the plans of state institutions. In other words, it should employ permanent components, not piecemeal, expedient measures and committees.
What is needed is a political umbrella bigger than the one afforded by the Gulf Initiative. It must be more responsive, longer-lasting and more realistic than its predecessors. Such an initiative was lacking in the Peace and Partnership Agreement signed by the political factions on Sept. 21. More important, there is a need for a balanced, 10-year economic and developmental plan for Yemen.
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