April Longley Alley

April Longley Alley is the senior Arabian Peninsula analyst for the International Crisis Group. She holds an M.A. in Arab studies and a Ph.D. in government from Georgetown University. A former Fulbright fellow, Dr. Alley has written extensively on Yemen for a variety of publications including Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, PS: Political Science and Politics, The Middle East Journal, the Journal of Democracy, and The National. She has conducted fieldwork in Yemen since 2004 and currently resides in Dubai.

This individual is a guest contributor for mei.edu, and is not affiliated with The Middle East Institute.

Publications

Analysis

Dec 22, 2014

April Longley Alley

Yemen’s Houthi Takeover

Dec 22, 2014

April Longley Alley

Once touted as a relative success story among Arab uprisings, the internationally backed transition process in Yemen has unravelled in the wake of the September 21 Houthi takeover of Sana. Nominally there is still a political process in place, but events on the ground are moving in a different direction and the country appears poised for yet another round of upheaval, possibly more transformative than the events of 2011.
Jun 11, 2009

Lisa Wedeen, April Longley Alley, Abdul-Ghani al-Iryani, Sheila Carapico, Stephen Day and Sarah Phillips

Discerning Yemen's Political Future

Jun 11, 2009

Lisa Wedeen, April Longley Alley, Abdul-Ghani al-Iryani, Sheila Carapico, Stephen Day and Sarah Phillips

These articles are concerned with the question of whether Yemen will remain intact until 2011, the date to which the 2009 elections were postponed.
Jun 2, 2009

April Longley Alley and Abdul-Ghani al-Iryani

Southern Aspirations and Salih's Exasperation: The Looming Threat of Secession in South Yemen

Jun 2, 2009

April Longley Alley and Abdul-Ghani al-Iryani

This article discusses the political and security threat of the evolving protest movement in southern Yemen.
Feb 1, 2008

April Longley Alley and Abdul-Ghani al-Iryani

Fighting Brushfires with Batons: An Analysis of the Political Crisis in South Yemen

Feb 1, 2008

April Longley Alley and Abdul-Ghani al-Iryani

Since the spring of 2007, a series of protests have gripped Southern Yemen. The intensity of the recent protests, their grassroots origins, and their connection with similar grievances and potential instability in the North make the situation particularly dangerous for the Salih regime. The regime has three main policy options for solving the growing crisis: increased repression, a combination of co-option and divide and rule tactics, or an aggressive package of political and economic reform that has as its cornerstone meaningful decentralization. Of the three options, decentralization is the most likely to preserve unity, encourage economic development, and strengthen Salih’s grip on power in the long term. Unfortunately, fear, greed, and old habits will likely guide the President’s decision, and he will choose a combination of targeted repression, co-option, and divide and rule tactics. This choice will aggravate the conflict and most likely result in a prolonged period of instability in the South, which may destabilize a tenuous political balance in the North.

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Publication Types

April Longley Alley

Yemen’s Houthi Takeover

Discerning Yemen's Political Future

Southern Aspirations and Salih's Exasperation: The Looming Threat of Secession in South Yemen

Fighting Brushfires with Batons: An Analysis of the Political Crisis in South Yemen