Yemen

On April 16, President Trump vetoed S.J. Res. 7, a joint resolution directing the United States to end support for the Saudi-led military campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen. The veto was the second of Trump’s presidency and the second time a U.S.

On March 13 and 14, a German court considered two challenges to the U.S. drone program in the Middle East and East Africa. Both cases, brought before the Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia in Münster, assert that Germany bears legal responsibility for the consequences of U.S.-led drone strikes in Yemen and Somalia that were conducted from the U.S. Air Force’s Ramstein base, located in southwestern Germany.

Editor’s Note: Yemen's deadly civil war and associated humanitarian catastrophe have dragged on for years. At the end of 2018, however, the country saw what seemed like a bit of good news: successful negotiations in Stockholm that offered the promise of a peaceful settlement, or at least a lasting ceasefire. These negotiations, however, may not be the solution to Yemen’s problems. Ariel Ahram of the University of Vermont argues that the Stockholm Agreement is at best incomplete and at worst could exacerbate the violence.

Yesterday, on Dec. 13, the Senate made history. By a vote of 56-41, it adopted S.J. Res. 54, a bipartisan joint resolution that directs U.S. forces to withdraw from “hostilities” in Yemen not related to al-Qaeda within 30 days of enactment—a move that, its supporters maintain, will end U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition currently waging a military campaign against Yemen’s Houthi rebels.