America and the Yemens: A Complex and Tragic Encounter

Bruce Riedel

Aug 2023 · Brookings Institution Press

About this ebook

In this book, Bruce Riedel, one of America’s leading experts on the Middle East, provides a history of US relations with the various entities of north and south Yemen, and the first in-depth review of America’s role in the deadly Saudi directed war in the Yemens. Three Presidents—Obama, Trump, and Biden-- have been deeply involved in this conflict. Riedel places this current war in the context of America’s history of engaging with the Yemens. From President Kennedy’s handling of a Soviet and Egyptian coup in Yemen in the fall of 1962 to multiple Presidents interaction with the dictator Ali Abdallah Salih who united the Yemens this is a fascinating story with a colorful cast of characters, America and the Yemens will be of interest to readers seeking to have a better understanding of America’s role in the Middle East and the tragic encounter that has created the worst humanitarian catastrophe in our lives.

About the author

Bruce Riedel is a Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies program at the Brookings Institution where he specializes in the Middle East and South Asia. His previous books include Kings and Presidents: Saudi Arabia and the United States Since FDR, Beirut 1958: How America's Wars in the Middle East Began, and Jordan and America: An Enduring Friendship. He resides in Chestertown, Maryland.