Yemen — reason for worry

Yemen is in disarray after Shiite militias known as Houthis grabbed power from the duly elected government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

The turmoil in this Arab country made UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon tell the UN Security Council after his return from Saudi Arabia, on Friday, that “Yemen is collapsing before our eyes”, and that “we cannot stand by and watch”.

The Houthis had seized control of the Yemeni capital Sanaa earlier on; they staged a coup last week against Hadi’s government and placed him under house arrest.

The UN secretary general called on the Security Council to ask for Hadi’s release and restore him as president. Easier said than done.

The UN appears powerless and its five permanent members divided on many issues. In the case of Yemen, Moscow is reluctant to take a hard line against the Houthis.

Russia’s moves must be dictated by the developments in Ukraine; it probably wants to strike a deal over the future of Kiev with the West, or at least influence the events in that country in its favour, so the Houthi card could help it advance its goals.

The geopolitical game in Yemen is too obvious to be neglected.

The Houthis are fully supported by Iran, whose influence is increasing at an alarming speed, threatening regional stability and security.

Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, appears to be especially vulnerable to this Shiite expansion and grab of power so close to its borders, and cannot afford to sit idle in the face of the growing threats to its security and stability.

That makes attempts to fix the situation in Yemen extremely difficult, if not impossible.

All evidence points to Yemen as a failed state, just like Libya and Syria.

Most Western countries closed their embassies in Sanaa, fearing for the lives of their diplomats.

These ominous developments only exacerbate the chaos in most of the Arab world, threatening its stability and security.

With the UN unable to intervene in favour of legitimacy, and law and order in many parts of the world, the international and regional fields are wide open for exploitation by extremists and entities with vested interests, and regional and international peace and security are under serious threat.