ABSTRACT
In the wake of the Arab Spring, an unexpected popular revolution erupted in Yemen. Fighting broke out between regime loyalists and opponents, including tribal forces drawn into what appeared to be a liberalizing and modernizing struggle. The Arab Spring helped Zaydis evolve from an oppressed minority to a powerful revolutionary force that proved its military prowess and its prime role in Yemeni politics, a revival that had already begun before the upheavals. Besides the Kurds, the Zaydi minority might turn out to be another beneficiary of the Arab Spring. Since the founding of the modern Republic in Yemen, but especially during the 1980s and 1990s, Zaydis felt their very identity and existence were threatened by Salafi incursions into their heartlands. Besides Zaydism's ignominious association with the imamate, its inherent revolutionary potential, lurking beneath the surface and ready to mobilize its followers against unjust rulers, made it a potential threat to the new power holders.
