Yemen’s humanitarian crisis rooted in geopolitical fragmentation and neoliberal aid failures, warns UN Security Council amid regional escalation

Yemeni traditional knowledge systems, such as *qati* mediation and *suluq* restorative justice, have been systematically undermined by warlords and foreign donors who prioritize Western humanitarian models over local solutions. Indigenous water management techniques, once central to Yemen’s agricultural resilience, have been destroyed by neoliberal land grabs and climate-induced drought, yet these are rarely acknowledged in policy discussions. The erasure of these systems reflects a broader pattern of epistemic violence, where Indigenous knowledge is dismissed as ‘backward’ in favor of extractive, state-centric governance.

Yemen’s current crisis cannot be understood without tracing the collapse of its state institutions to IMF-mandated structural adjustment programs in the 1990s, which privatized public services and deepened inequality. The 2011 Arab Spring uprisings were co-opted by Gulf states and Western powers to install a transitional government that served their interests, setting the stage for the 2014 Houthi takeover and subsequent Saudi-led intervention. Historical parallels abound with British colonial divide-and-rule strategies in the 19th century, which deliberately fragmented Yemen’s social fabric to facilitate resource extraction.

In many Global South contexts, prolonged conflict is not an accident but a tool of neocolonial control, as seen in Yemen’s weaponization of aid by Gulf states and Western donors to enforce political compliance. The framing of Yemenis as ‘hanging by a thread’ mirrors colonial narratives of the ‘helpless native,’ which justify external intervention and obscure local agency. Cross-culturally, the emphasis on de-escalation and funding ignores the role of South-South solidarity movements, such as Yemeni-Palestinian ties, which have historically resisted imperial domination.

Peer-reviewed studies confirm that Yemen’s water scarcity crisis is exacerbated by neoliberal agricultural policies that prioritized cash crops over subsistence farming, leading to aquifer depletion and rural displacement. Research also shows that foreign military interventions correlate with prolonged conflict duration and increased civilian harm, yet these findings are rarely integrated into policy discussions. The humanitarian aid model, which relies on top-down distribution, has been critiqued for creating dependency and undermining local markets, as documented in Oxfam and World Bank evaluations.

Yemeni art and poetry, such as the works of poet Abdulaziz Al-Maqaleh, have long articulated resistance to foreign domination and the beauty of pre-war cultural cohesion, yet these voices are silenced in mainstream narratives. Traditional Yemeni music and dance, once central to communal healing, have been disrupted by war, reflecting the broader spiritual crisis of a society under siege. The erasure of these cultural expressions reflects a colonial gaze that reduces Yemenis to victims rather than agents of their own history.

Scenario modeling suggests that without dismantling the political economy of war—including arms sales, resource extraction, and aid dependency—Yemen will remain trapped in a cycle of recurring crises, with each ‘humanitarian intervention’ deepening state fragility. Future projections indicate that climate-induced water scarcity will exacerbate conflict, yet current policies ignore the need for agroecological restoration and community-led water management. The rise of drone warfare and AI-driven surveillance in Yemen points to a future where conflict becomes increasingly automated, further marginalizing civilian voices.

Yemeni women, particularly those in rural areas, have been at the forefront of resistance to war profiteering and have developed alternative economic models, yet their voices are systematically excluded from peace negotiations. Disabled Yemenis, who face systemic discrimination in aid distribution, are rarely mentioned in mainstream coverage, despite their disproportionate suffering. The narrative of ‘hanging by a thread’ erases the agency of Yemeni civil society, including feminist groups like the *Women’s Solidarity Network*, which have provided critical humanitarian and advocacy support despite severe restrictions.