Al-Qaeda and the Struggle for Yemen

Since the attempted bombing of an American passenger jet on Christmas Day 2009 was traced to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen, the Yemeni government has been trying to convince foreign donors that it requires extraordinary financial assistance to stay afloat in the face of the al-Qaeda threat. The West is right to worry about Yemen's ability to contain the conflict that is intensifying within its borders and has responded with a set of policy prescriptions aimed at stabilising the regime. This approach, however, may actually aggravate Yemen's problems because it seeks to strengthen existing power hierarchies rather than find incentives to make the power elite more responsive to the crisis.