ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the evolution of the Ṣāliḥ regime in the context of a complex story of interaction between Yemen’s numerous political agents. In the process, it is necessary to read how a unified Yemen became politically necessary for two historically antagonistic regimes – the southern Marxists tied to ‘Alī Sālim al-Bayḍ and the northern allies of Ṣāliḥ – while avoiding the temptation to reduce everything to nationalistic, ideological, sectarian or tribal motivations. As highlighted by exploring the turn-of-the-century imperial past, a complex and often confused set of local rivalries, permanently shifting within the larger context of the fortunes of various states administering the region, informs how the unification process in the 1990s changes the horizons of a long list of previously obscure constituencies.
