Author – CARPO e.V.

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Drivers and strategic puzzles of Saudi modernization

In the Clingendael and CARPO report “Drivers and strategic puzzles of Saudi modernization“, the authors analyze the ongoing challenges and opportunities of Saudi Arabia’s current socio-economic transformation. The envisaged transformation is fully in line with the vested interests of the Saudi monarchy and much of the business elite, as well as some of the country’s younger generations. Despite promising potential for mid- and long-term progress in privatization, investments, job creation and social change, the modernization agenda’s lack of participatory governance modalities, insufficient attention to climate change mitigation and absence of a balanced strategy to promote regional stability represent serious medium-term challenges.

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Erwin van Veen, Other, Sebastian Sons

Energy Injustice and Its Role for Environmental Peacebuilding

Ahmad Al-Wadaey, Tobias Zumbrägel and Ali Alamudi

This Report discusses the crucial but understudied impact of oil extraction industries on local communities and the environment in Yemen’s Hadhramawt governorate. By combining conceptual approaches of energy justice and the environmental peacebuilding literature, it provides a novel perspective on how environmental pollution via the oil industry in Yemen creates injustices and grievances and might hamper sustainable peace efforts. Using a mixed method approach of both quantitative and qualitative analyses, the empirical assessment in two districts of Hadhramawt governorate, Tarim and Sah, confirms assumptions about widespread and severe oil pollution negatively impacting the local population. Based on a household survey and additional expert interviews, it further describes potential avenues for remediation that offer recommendations for concrete action on environmental peacebuilding strategies.

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CARPO Reports, CARPO Sustainability Series, Impact of Oil Extraction Industries on Local Communities and the Environment in Hadhramawt, Yemen, Tobias Zumbrägel

Cultural Exchange and the Prospects for Inter-Societal Relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran

by Mirjam Schmidt and Desirée Custers

In August 2022, CARPO and Stimson Europe hosted a workshop looking into the potential of cultural diplomacy and cultural exchange between Iran and Saudi Arabia. While the two countries share a rich history of cultural relations, their present-day cultural exchange is minimal due to geopolitical differences. But in spite of the many challenges, participants of the workshop emphasized the importance and potentials of cultural diplomacy and exchange to improve bilateral relations. The workshop shed light on four areas as case studies to explore avenues of future cultural relations: literature and translation, documentary filmmaking, media, and religious diplomacy.

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CARPO Briefs, Desirée Custers, Iran-Saudi-Dialogue, Mirjam Schmidt

The Role of the Diaspora in Peacebuilding in Yemen. Potentials and Opportunities, Challenges and Constraints

by Marie-Christine Heinze and Ewa K. Strzelecka

On 12 June 2022, FES Yemen and CARPO, in collaboration with the EU-funded Peace Women project, convened a one-day workshop in Amman, Jordan. The aim of this workshop was to discuss with researchers as well as female and male diaspora representatives challenges and constraints as well as potentials and opportunities of Yemeni diaspora communities to contribute to peace in their home country, and to particularly highlight the role of female members of the diaspora community in such efforts. This publication is a summary of the most important workshop findings.

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Allgemein, CARPO Briefs, Ewa Strzelecka, Marie-Christine Heinze, Peace Women

CARPO Podcast Trailer: Katar 2022 – Mehr als eine WM

CARPO Podcast, Mirjam Schmidt, Publications, Sebastian Sons

Narratives of (In)Justice in Contemporary Yemeni Novels

by Osama Ali, Fadhilah Gubari, Julia Gurol and Abdulsalam al-Rubaidi

This Study analyzes narratives of (in)justice in contemporary Yemeni novels. Through a lexical field analysis of nine selected contemporary novels, the paper highlights how (in)justice is framed in narrative literature, both in terms of representations of certain socio-political practices and in terms of normative constructions and the creation of a normative order. It argues that novels represent and discuss the complexities of Yemeni realities, where daily practices and experiences of individuals are entangled with philosophical questions about the meaning of life. It discusses the nexus between the framing of (in)justice and post-conflict reconciliation and provides an original insight into the understanding and constructions of justice and injustice offered to society by Yemeni novelists.

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Abdulsalam al-Rubaidi, Allgemein, CARPO Studies, Fadhilah Gubari, Julia Gurol, Osama Ali, Teaching and Advising on Post-conflict Reconstruction

The Role of the Environment in Peacebuilding in Yemen

by Bilkis Zabara and Tobias Zumbrägel

This Report addresses the relationship between violent conflict and environmental governance in Yemen. It translates the concept of environmental peacebuilding to the case of Yemen, where it has not received broader attention in terms of post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation efforts. The study compares six different governorates, namely Sana’a, Dhamar, Ibb, Ta‘iz, Aden and Hadhramawt and finds that all governorates face specific threats. If these challenges are not addressed adequately and in a sustainable manner, they can accelerate social conflict and ultimately threaten long-term solutions for peace and stability in the country. To promote the concept of environmental peacebuilding, the Report provides several suggestions for concrete action by international actors working on Yemen.

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Allgemein, Bilkis Zabara, CARPO Reports, CARPO Sustainability Series, Publications, Research Cooperation on Peacebuilding in Yemen, Tobias Zumbrägel

The Brussels MENA Briefing: Iraq, Beyond the Election – Internal and External Implications

November 25, 2021

On November 25, the Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient (CARPO) and Stimson Europe hosted the thirteenth “Brussels MENA Briefing”—a series of after-work briefings on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region—on “Iraq, Beyond the Election: Internal and External Implications”.

Speakers included Ali Al-Mawlawi, who works as an independent analyst and researcher and specializes on Iraq’s political economy, Marsin Al-Shamary, who is a Research Fellow at the Middle East Initiative (MEI), and Hussein Al-Waeli, who works as an accredited journalist at the European Union. The discussion was moderated by Kawa Hassan, Senior Fellow and Director of the Middle East and North Africa division and Executive Director of Stimson Europe.

The Disaster of Yemen’s Flash Floods. Impact of and Local Responses to the Torrential Rains and Flooding in 2020

by Khalid al-Akwa and Tobias Zumbrägel

Between March and September 2020, and again in May through July 2021, Yemen experienced periods of torrential rain that resulted in flash flooding. Flash floods are and will continue to be a recurrent natural phenomenon with destructive consequences in Yemen, which has not yet received broader attention. This Brief thus provides an overall understanding of the social and economic impact and current management of Yemen’s flash floods to improve disaster prevention and mitigation. It stresses the urgency of creating an independent environmental advisory body, comprised of a range of stakeholders and experts, to coordinate environmental reconstruction work and enhance tangible climate action into future strategies and interventions of national governance management and international humanitarian assistance.

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CARPO Briefs, CARPO Sustainability Series, Khalid al-Akwa, Teaching and Advising on Post-conflict Reconstruction, Tobias Zumbrägel

Reconfigurations in West Asia and North Africa. CARPO Research Forum 2020 – Conference Report

by Mirjam Schmidt, Julia Gurol and Tobias Zumbrägel

The first CARPO Research Forum, which took place in November 2020, addressed the reconfigurations and challenges the WANA region is currently grappling with by selecting three major themes at the global, regional and local levels: It discussed the reconfigurations of external powers in the region with a particular focus on a rising China, dealt with the looming climate peril and the arduous path of the region towards sustainable development, and examined the social contract, looking at regional protest waves since the ‘Arab Spring’. Bringing together practitioners and academics, it provided an insight into the interplay between the global, regional and local levels in a highly heterogeneous region, thereby pointing towards future paths for development. This Conference Report summarizes the main take-aways of the Research Forum and highlights avenues for future discussion.

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CARPO Research Forum, CARPO Studies, Julia Gurol, Mirjam Schmidt, Publications, Tobias Zumbrägel

Priorities for the Recovery and Reform of the Electricity Sector in Yemen

Poor electricity services in Yemen, even before the war, have been one of the key barriers to sustainable economic development and basic service provision (e.g., water supply, health care, education). This paper assesses the power supply system status prior to the war and subsequently discusses the impact of the war on electricity sector performance, followed by an identification of the key barriers faced by the sector. It concludes with the identification of the top priorities for restoring electricity sector services and reforming the sector after the war.

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Akram Almohamadi, Other, Publications, Rethinking Yemen's Economy, RYE Publications

Brussels MENA Briefing: Egypt in the Eastern Mediterranean

April 14, 2021

On April 14, the Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient (CARPO) and the Stimson Center Europe hosted the eleventh “Brussels MENA Briefing”—a series of after-work briefings on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region—on “Egypt in the Eastern Mediterranean”.

Speakers included Dr. Ahmed Kandil, Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Energy Studies Program at the al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, and Hafsa Halawa, independent consultant, Visiting Fellow at the Middle East and North Africa Program of the European Council on Foreign Relations and Non-resident Fellow at the Middle East Institute. The discussion was moderated by Desirée Custers, Research Assistant of the Middle East and North Africa Program at the Stimson Centre.

Local Security Governance in Yemen in Times of War

by Mareike Transfeld, Mohamed al-Iriani, Maged Sultan and Marie-Christine Heinze

After six years of war, state institutions in Yemen have fragmented along multiple fault lines. The security sector is no exception. Given their role as central nodes of the country’s security governance structure, this Policy Report explores governorate-level Security Committees in three governorates that have been particularly affected by violence and institutional fragmentation: Ta‘iz, al-Hudayda and Aden. Next to seeking to understand the institutional set-up and functions of the Committees, questions guiding this Report are how the Committees have evolved in the context of state fragmentation and what, if any, capacities they have to play a potential role in local-level mediation (for instance, regarding humanitarian access) or transitional security governance arrangements.

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Maged Sultan, Mapping Security Governance in Yemen, Mareike Transfeld, Marie-Christine Heinze, Mohamed al-Iriani, Other

‘Broken People Can’t Heal a Nation.’ The Role of Arts in Peacebuilding in Yemen

by Yazeed al-Jeddawy, Maged al-Kholidy and Kate Nevens

This Report looks at how the arts and peacebuilding have historically intersected in Yemen, and how traditional arts are alive today and are being used to promote peace and war. It demonstrates the variety of ways in which the arts promote and educate on the values of peace, equality and cultural diversity while also being a tool for documenting life during war, telling untold stories and preserving collective memory. It also highlights the use of art for advocating against violence and human rights violations, for supporting the psychosocial wellbeing of traumatized people, and for rebuilding relationships in communities torn apart by the war. The Report concludes with recommendations for a number of different ways in which the arts can make a direct and indirect contribution to peacebuilding in Yemen.

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Allgemein, CARPO Reports, Kate Nevens, Maged al-Kholidy, Publications, Yazeed al-Jeddawy

Post COVID-19: A Potential for Green Recovery in the Arab Gulf States

by Aisha Al-Sarihi

The novel coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the GCC’s focus on environmental sustainability projects, as shoring up economies and protecting human health have become top priorities for governmental countermeasures. This Brief argues that associating COVID-19 economic recovery packages with measures aimed to safeguard the environment and tackle climate change, towards a so-called ‘green recovery’, will not only ensure long-term resilience and sustainability of economies as countries recover from the pandemic, but also boost economic activity, generate income and create jobs.

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Aisha Al-Sarihi, CARPO Briefs, CARPO Sustainability Series, Publications

Brussels MENA Briefing: Kuwait and the post-Sheikh Sabah Era

December 1, 2020

On December 1, the EastWest Institute (EWI) and the Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient (CARPO) hosted the ninth “Brussels MENA Briefing”—a series of after-work briefings on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region—on “Kuwait and the post-Sheikh Sabah Era”.

Speakers included Vice Admiral (ret.) Ahmad Al-Mulla, advisor to the Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense, and Dr. Courtney Freer, assistant professorial research fellow at the Middle East Center of the London School of Economics. Well-known experts on the Persian Gulf region and members of the European policy community virtually attended this briefing, which was held under the Chatham House Rule.

Brussels MENA Briefing: The Economic Dimensions of the Conflict in Yemen

October 6, 2020

The seventh edition of the Brussels MENA Briefing, co-hosted by the EastWest Institute (EWI) and the Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient (CARPO), in partnership with the Rethinking Yemen’s Economy initiative, was dedicated to the economic impact of the ongoing conflict in Yemen—a war that started in 2014/15 and has since turned the country into the world’s worst humanitarian crisis according to the UN.

The Rethinking Yemen’s Economy initiative aims to contribute to peacebuilding and conflict prevention, economic stabilization and sustainable development in Yemen by building consensus in crucial policy areas through engaging and promoting informed Yemeni voices from all backgrounds (the “Development Champions”) in public discourse on development, economy and post-conflict reconstruction in Yemen, and by positively influencing local, regional and international development agendas. It is implemented by CARPO, DeepRoot Consulting and the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies and is generously funded by the European Union and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Yemen.

The Looming Climate Peril. Sustainable Strategies and Environmental Activism in the Middle East and North Africa

by Tobias Zumbrägel

Taking the viewpoint of ‘political ecology’, this first issue of the newly created CARPO Sustainability Series highlights the social and political implications of sustainable transformation across the broader Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Overall, it aims to achieve four goals: (a) to provide a comprehensive overview of existing research and avenues of thought; (b) to supply a cross-sectoral analysis across the MENA region, rather than in-depth single case studies; (c) to uncover broader implications and dialectic relationships between sustainability and political power constellations; and (d) to sketch out some potential future developments and dynamics over the coming years.

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CARPO Studies, CARPO Sustainability Series, Publications, Tobias Zumbrägel

The Role of the Private Sector in Peacebuilding in Yemen

by Tarek Barakat, Ali al-Jarbani and Laurent Bonnefoy

This Brief analyzes the state of the private sector in Yemen during the ongoing war and explores its potential to contribute to the country’s peace requirements. It presents challenges entrepreneurs face and the potential contribution of these in sectors that are central to the construction and sustainability of peace. It highlights the fact that their actions and capacity to offer jobs and revenue to the Yemeni population are constrained by the fragmentation of authority and the resultant lack of transparency. It also demonstrates that the focus on regional and international aid has left many entrepreneurs feeling abandoned and helpless.

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Ali al-Jarbani, CARPO Briefs, Laurent Bonnefoy, Publications, Research Cooperation on Peacebuilding in Yemen, Tarek Barakat

The Role of Civil Society in Peacebuilding in Yemen

by Abdulkarim Qassim, Loay Amin, Mareike Transfeld and Ewa Strzelecka

The current political and economic conditions in Yemen make it difficult for CSOs to continue functioning on an effective level, while a lack of human and organizational capacity are hampering project results. Nevertheless, Yemeni CSOs contribute to peace requirements in various sectors and remain an important actor in the Yemeni civic sphere. In a context in which conflict parties are not willing to compromise and media contributes to escalating violence, actors that uphold the principles of human rights, political participation and peace are most likely to be found in the realm of civil society. For civil society to be able to contribute to peacebuilding and future reconstruction efforts, now is the time for international organizations to support CSOs and invest seriously into their human and organizational capacity building.

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Abdulkarim Qassim, CARPO Briefs, Ewa Strzelecka, Loay Amin, Mareike Transfeld, Publications, Research Cooperation on Peacebuilding in Yemen

The Role of Youth in Peacebuilding in Yemen

by Maged al-Kholidy, Yazeed al-Jeddawy and Kate Nevens

Despite its major transformative potential, local level youth work is often overlooked by mainstream international discourses on national level peace processes and violent conflict. This Brief sheds light on young peoples’ activism before and during the war, the challenges they are currently facing, their visions for the future of Yemen and the kind of support they need. The contributions of young men and women to the economy, politics, culture and society, security and justice, education and the environment show how youth are laying the groundwork for peace and social cohesion in their communities.

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CARPO Briefs, Kate Nevens, Maged al-Kholidy, Publications, Research Cooperation on Peacebuilding in Yemen, Yazeed al-Jeddawy

The Role of the Media in Peacebuilding in Yemen

by Fatima Saleh, Scott Preston and Mareike Transfeld

The increased political capture of the Yemeni media since 2014 has reinforced diverging political discourses and has contributed to polarization across society and to political fragmentation. Practitioners face steep challenges in composing professional stories. Journalists are subject to harassment, intimidation, abduction and violence. Yet, Yemeni journalists remain hopeful of the prospect of media reform and are eager to detail the prerequisites for proactive change. Encouraging the development of independent news outlets, independent funding and capacity-building activities could enable the Yemeni media to contribute to better mutual understanding, de-escalation and the requirements for peace.

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CARPO Briefs, Fatima Saleh, Mareike Transfeld, Publications, Research Cooperation on Peacebuilding in Yemen, Scott Preston

China’s Strategy in the Persian Gulf. A Balancing Act between Riyadh and Tehran [in German]

by Julia Gurol and Jacopo Scita

This Brief discusses the repercussions of geopolitical developments on China’s strategy in the Persian Gulf. It is argued that China is pursuing strategic hedging by attempting a risky political balancing act in order to prepare for a possible escalation. This Brief is a slightly edited German translation of the authors’ contribution ‘China’s Persian Gulf strategy: Keep Tehran and Riyadh content‘ on the IranSource Blog of the Atlantic Council, which was first published on 24 January 2020.

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CARPO Briefs, Jacopo Scita, Julia Gurol, Publications

The Role of Women in Peacebuilding in Yemen

by Iman al-Gawfi, Bilkis Zabara and Stacey Philbrick Yadav

Yemeni women are laying foundations for sustainable peace through everyday practices that have the capacity to help transform the landscape of women’s rights in the post-war period. Wider recognition of women’s paid and unpaid work in wartime, and the conditions that enable it, could improve the social cohesion, economic stability, and human security necessary for sustainable peace. Based on research conducted in the summer and fall of 2019, this CARPO/GDRSC Brief reviews variations in women’s experience of conflict and participation in everyday peacebuilding in different parts of the country, advocates for an entitlement-based approach that recognizes women’s agency, supports women’s diverse aims, and works to leverage their existing contributions in support of sustainable peace.

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Bilkis Zabara, CARPO Briefs, Iman al-Gawfi, Projects, Publications, Research Cooperation on Peacebuilding in Yemen, Stacey Philbrick Yadav

<i>Bar’a</i> as an Expression of Liminality Ritual Performance, Identity and Conflict Prevention in the Highlands of Yemen

Bar’a as an Expression of Liminality Ritual Performance, Identity and Conflict Prevention in the Highlands of Yemen

by Ulrike Stohrer

This Study focuses on the performative genre bar^ʿa, which is one of the most important means of nonverbal communication between social groups in Yemen. As such, this Study deals with a cultural practice of the tribal population in the Yemeni highlands that also has important significance for Yemeni society as a whole by serving as an expression of tribal, regional and also national identity. Moreover, the practice is a cultural tool that enables tribesmen to deal with unsafe and potentially conflict-bearing situations in a stabilizing manner. It is used as a ritual for integration and strengthening collective identity, as well as as a means of keeping peace and preventing conflicts.

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CARPO Studies, Publications, Ulrike Stohrer

Projecting Power Westwards. China’s Maritime Strategy in the Arabian Sea and its Potential Ramifications for the Region

by Julia Gurol & Parisa Shahmohammadi

This Study looks at China’s new maritime strategy in the Arabian Sea within the framework of the Maritime Silk Road and analyses its possible implications for the adjacent countries. The main focus of the analysis is placed on the most critical sea lines of communication which connect China with the Middle East: the Bab al-Mandab, the Gulf of Aden, the Persian Gulf and the Street of Hormuz, as well as the Suez Canal. The authors analyze China’s change in strategy from its focus on securing its own coastlines to a stronger outward power projection and the development of a navy that not only concentrates on securing resources but also on the establishment of regional hegemonic power. Further, the authors project possible economic and security implications of this change in strategy for the role of China in the region as well as its respective countries.

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CARPO Studies, Julia Gurol, Parisa Shahmohammadi

Tafahum – An Ideational Fundament for West Asia and the Arabian Peninsula

by Christian Koch and Adnan Tabatabai

This CARPO Brief discusses the need to construct ideational pillars for a tafahum, or common understanding, of how to define a process towards regional integration and a shared security architecture for West Asia and the Arabian Peninsula (WAAP). This is an evolutionary process, which begins with the essential building blocks of overcoming the existing lack of trust and addressing not only the current political and ideological conflicts defining the region from different angles, but also the conceptual frameworks behind them. The Tafahum project provides such building blocks, including the pursuit of issue-oriented cooperation between regional actors on a variety of subjects, promoted through the support of external parties.

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Adnan Tabatabai, CARPO Briefs, Christian Koch, Publications, Tafahum

Turning Interdependence into Complementary Action

by Julia Gurol & Parisa Shahmohammadi

This CARPO Report lays out what the role of China could be in the quest to safeguard the JCPOA. It outlines the viewpoints of Brussels and Beijing, and sketches converging and diverging interests and their influence on respective policy choices. It assesses two scenarios for the future of the JCPOA and puts forward the argument that despite deepening political constraints (e.g. normative differences, systemic challenges and increasing mistrust), there is a need for complementary action between the E3 countries and China with regard to the JCPOA.

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CARPO Reports, Julia Gurol, Parisa Shahmohammadi, Publications

Understanding Peace Requirements in Yemen

by Mareike Transfeld & Marie-Christine Heinze

This CARPO Report serves as a background paper to five short studies Yemeni-international researcher tandems will develop in the course of 2019. It places a particular focus on ‘peace requirements’, a term that seeks to draw attention to the manifold challenges to establishing stability and building peace in Yemen and the resulting efforts which will be required. In laying out these peace requirements, the CARPO Report focuses on the following relevant sectors: economy, politics, culture and society, security and justice, education, and environment. In a last step, it takes a look at the challenges to and capacities of five different actor groups in Yemen to address these needs: civil society, women, youth, the media and the private sector.

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CARPO Reports, Mareike Transfeld, Marie-Christine Heinze, Publications, Research Cooperation on Peacebuilding in Yemen

Back to Crisis Mode. Iran’s Quest to Manage Internal Crises and External Pressures [in German]

by Adnan Tabatabai

This CARPO Report is dedicated to an analytical discussion about how the ongoing crisis surrounding the nuclear agreement between the E3/EU+3 and Iran is affecting the foreign policy conduct of the Islamic Republic, its internal power balance, as well as the future of state-society relations in Iran. This is the German translation of the original version, which was published by the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) in cooperation with the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS).

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Adnan Tabatabai, CARPO Reports, Publications

A Strained Alliance. Transatlantic Views on the Middle East

by Adnan Tabatabai

This CARPO Brief provides the readers with a reflection of the discussions held during a workshop organized by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) and CARPO, which brought together policy experts from the think tank communities of Europe and the United States. The focus of the discussions was on specific country contexts (Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia), but also considered transnational areas of shared concern, such as the rise of non-state actors, violent extremism and state failure. Distinct points of convergence and divergence in transatlantic views on the Middle East are highlighted and summarized.

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Adnan Tabatabai, CARPO Briefs, Iran-Saudi-Dialogue, Publications

Knowledge in Dialogue. The Role of Academic Exchange in Mitigating Conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia

by Jan Hanrath

The sixth meeting of CARPO and the EastWest Institute’s ‘Iran-Saudi Dialogue Initiative’ dealt with knowledge production and knowledge dialogue in context of the highly conflictual relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia and explored the potential of academic exchanges and scientific cooperation in defusing such tensions. The workshop brought together academics, representatives of think tanks and security analysts from Iran and Saudi Arabia as well as international experts. The participants discussed general conditions and approaches of academic dialogues, as well as concrete steps that can be envisioned even in times of heightened conflict. All participants agreed that an increase of knowledge on its own does not automatically lead to more understanding. Different forms of knowledge need to be understood and applied, and existing gaps between the various forms bridged. Only in doing so academic dialogue can live up to its potential as bridge-builder. CARPO/EWI Brief 11 takes up the discussions of the workshop and presents policy recommendations.

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CARPO Briefs, Iran-Saudi-Dialogue, Jan Hanrath, Projects, Publications

Imagining an Alternative Homeland. Humanism in Contemporary Yemeni Novels

by Abdulsalam al-Rubaidi

This Study presents insights into alternative values and visions offered to society by leading contemporary Yemeni novelists with the aim of laying the basis for a better future of their country. CARPO Associate Fellow Abdulsalam al-Rubaidi analyzes six contemporary Yemeni novels, each of which is built around widely debated issues in Yemen, revolving around three main categories: regionalism, religious affiliations, and race. The Study identifies a multidimensional humanistic space as the ultimate goal of literary narration – a vision which is based on love, respect, recognition, rationality, openness, environmental awareness and orientation towards peace.

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Abdulsalam al-Rubaidi, CARPO Studies, Peacebuilding and State building in Yemen, Publications

Rivals or Partners? Interdependencies between the EU and China in the Middle East

by Julia Gurol

Geopolitical occurrences and the changing role of the United States in the Middle East have led to an increased interdependence between the EU and China in the Middle East, a region where the economic and security interests of each meet, compete and converge. While the main drivers of EU-China relations remain economic, the security dimension of their relationship is steadily increasing. It is therefore timely to undertake a preliminary mapping of EU-China security relations in the Middle East, in order to assess the potential drivers towards cooperation and explore possibilities to turn the greater interdependence into increased cooperation rather than expanding competition.

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CARPO Studies, Julia Gurol, Publications

Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Recognizing the Primacy of Politics in UN Peacebuilding

by Andrea Warnecke

This CARPO Study scrutinizes the dichotomy between the political and non-political parts of the UN system and asks whether the UN system can conduct peacebuilding in contested intra-state settings irrespective of Security Council backing. It argues that the UN’s perennial pre-occupation with improving peacebuilding coherence across its bodies is bound up with the attempt to project greater political leverage vis-à-vis host state governments. The quest for peacebuilding reform has recently come full circle by acknowledging the fundamental dilemma of conducting intra-state peacebuilding in ‘non-cooperative’ environments as a challenge to be addressed at the political level of inter-governmental cooperation rather than through the non-political parts of the UN.

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Andrea Warnecke, CARPO Studies, Peacebuilding and State building in Yemen, Publications

Working Paper: Bridging the Relief to Rehabilitation Gap in Yemen. A Conversation with National and International Experts

herausgegeben von Andrea Warnecke and Bilkis Zabara

This publication is an output of our 2018 summer school, which introduced students to the theory and practice of linking relief, reconstruction, and peacebuilding efforts in Yemen in light of the ongoing war. As the fighting and airstrikes in Yemen have continued unabatedly, several international governmental and non-governmental organizations have had to reconsider their approaches to delivering aid during war. In particular, humanitarian aid and assistance have at times been politicized by the warring parties or altogether withheld by denying access to areas most at risk. At the same time, a number of parties to the internationalized war in Yemen simultaneously act as humanitarian donors, throwing into question the degree to which such aid adheres to the traditional humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, and neutrality. In four essays, the participating students discuss the politics of relief and reconstruction; security in Yemen; justice, reconciliation and the political framework; and the socio-economic framework.

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Andrea Warnecke, Bilkis Zabara, Other, Peacebuilding and State building in Yemen, Publications

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among Yemeni Children as a Consequence of the Ongoing War

by Fawziah al-Ammar

This CARPO Brief summarizes initial findings of the author’s research among displaced school children in Sana‘a in spring 2016, based on the internationally recognized Child PTSD Symptoms Scale (CPSS). It finds that they have been experiencing severe symptoms of PTSD since the breakout of violent conflict and war and that the rates of PTSD experience are higher compared to results from similar studies in other countries going through conflict. It thus concludes that Yemeni school children are in dire need of help to overcome the difficulties they might face in the future and provides respective recommendations.

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CARPO Briefs, Fawziah al-Ammar, Peacebuilding and State building in Yemen, Publications

Enhancing Women’s Role in Water Management in Yemen

by Bilkis Zabara

This CARPO Brief addresses the relationship between gender and natural resources in conflict-affected Yemen. It describes the impact of the war on women’s access to water resources and sanitation facilities and analyzes the role of women in decision-making and water-distribution processes. It finds that the involvement of women at all levels of water management and governance is of utmost importance if the access to water as a basic human right is to be guaranteed and provides respective recommendations.

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Bilkis Zabara, CARPO Briefs, Peacebuilding and State building in Yemen, Projects, Publications

International Organizations and the Yemeni Private Sector

This Policy Brief addresses the role of the Yemeni private sector in mitigating the humanitarian crisis in Yemen as well as its relationship to international humanitarian organizations. It finds that a large number of Yemeni business owners have been engaged in trying to alleviate the suffering of Yemenis out of their own volition, but also in service of and cooperation with international humanitarian agencies. Despite this successful cooperation relationship, this Policy Brief also finds that there remains significant room for improvement particularly what communication and coordination measures are concerned. To this end, it is recommended – amongst others – that international humanitarian actors form a joint coordination platform with the Yemeni private sector, local authorities and civil society.

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Ali Azaki, Other, Publications, Rethinking Yemen's Economy, RYE Publications

Addressing Security Sector Reform in Yemen. Challenges and Opportunities for Intervention During and Post-Conflict

edited by Marie-Christine Heinze

This CARPO Report is the result of a conference with the same name, which was jointly organized by CARPO and the Regional Office Gulf States of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) at the Dead Sea in April 2017. The papers by prolific experts on Yemen included in this publication discuss the changes, obstacles and limits for successful security sector reform in Yemen during and after the conflict and offer respective recommendations for national and international policy-makers in the field.

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Addressing Security Sector Reform in Yemen, CARPO Reports, Marie-Christine Heinze, Publications

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