Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 04/2013

The Security Sector in Yemen

Holger Albrecht

March 2013

United States Institute of Peace

Abstract

A new survey by the Yemen Polling Center reveals that the state’s security establishment remains ineffective in cities and largely absent in rural areas. Yemenis do not equate the presence of the state’s security establishment with greater personal security, indicating a high degree of popular trust in traditional, tribal security arrangements. Yet, many Yemenis also understand the limits of the tribal system, advocating for a more substantial role of the state as a security provider. Security sector reforms throughout 2012 have been limited to President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi’s recruitment of new leadership personnel.