When today's talk about Yemen, the news almost always features the same words: war, hunger, ruins, attacks on ships, bombings. But if you look a little closer and dig a bit deeper, it becomes clear: war is just the tip of the iceberg. Yemen has long lived not just outside the 21st century, but somewhere in a parallel reality, where the state as such does not exist, and its place is taken by tribes, religious leaders, and armed groups. Why, then, does a country with the oldest history, rich cultural heritage, and strategic position at the crossroads of trade routes feel like a living museum of the Middle Ages today? Let's try to figure it out. The State That Does Not Exist The paradox of Yemen is that it formally has a government. In reality, it does not. Since 2014, when the Yemeni capital of Sana was captured by the Houthis, power in the country has finally broken down into many fragments. Today's Yemen is a patchwork quilt of warring territories, each with its own rulers, laws, and — more importantly — its own armed units. The internationally recognized government sits in Riyadh (the Saudi capital, not Yemeni) and, according to analysts, is practically unable to govern even the territories it nominally controls. The temporary capital, Aden, is immersed in chaos: electricity is regularly disconnected, streets are patrolled not by police but by local armed groups, and officials receiving salaries from abroad are not in a hurry to return home. At the same time, the Presidential Council (a collective body formally governing Yemen) consists of eight people who constantly conflict with each other and cannot share power. Such an organ is not able to either adopt laws, control troops, or save the economy. In the north, where most of the population lives, the Houthis rule. They are also Ansar Allah — a military-political movement supported by Iran. They have their own courts, army, taxes, ideology, mixed with religion and military dictatorship. In the south, the so- ... Read more