Democratization in the Arab World? Yemen’s Aborted Opening

In 1990, North and South Yemen surprised the world by announcing that, along with the unification of the two countries, the new Republic of Yemen would bring democracy to the Arabian Peninsula. Rapid democratization seemed unlikely, given that Yemen is a mostly rural country with poor economic development, a lack of basic services in many areas, and low levels of literacy. But the first years after unification were promising. The country had a vibrant public sphere and the 1993 national elections produced a pluralistic parliament. Today, however, the government more closely resembles the autocracy of the pre-unification North than a country in democratic transition. Although President Ali Abdallah Salih continues to call Yemen an "emerging democracy," 1 he seems uninterested in moving the country beyond tactical liberalization and toward a genuinely open political system.