From : The Guardian
Photo : http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Brian Whitaker on an authoritative survey of a troubled country.
When Ali Abdullah Salih came to power in Yemen in 1978, no one expected him to last long. Two earlier presidents had been assassinated and another had fled, but 32 years later Salih is still at the helm – no mean achievement in what is often considered one of the world's most difficult countries to govern.
Ruling Yemen, as Salih himself describes it, is "like dancing on the heads of snakes" – and it is this unconventional approach to statecraft that Victoria Clark sets out to explore in her book. The "snakes" in question include troublesome tribes, opposition parties, militant jihadists and Salih's own over-ambitious relatives; in fact, almost anyone who might pose a threat to his survival as president.
Ruling Yemen, as Salih himself describes it, is "like dancing on the heads of snakes" – and it is this unconventional approach to statecraft that Victoria Clark sets out to explore in her book. The "snakes" in question include troublesome tribes, opposition parties, militant jihadists and Salih's own over-ambitious relatives; in fact, almost anyone who might pose a threat to his survival as president.
