Tuesday, August 24, 2004
You learn something new everyday
Today's history lesson
What is the only Middle East country to have been communist?
The answer: Yemen.
I learned the rough details of what is written below from a Yemeni friend tonight over a cup of tea, but went a-Googlin' to fill in some of the details (instead of working on that 3 page To-Do list...).
In the 1960s, it seems everyone was 'helping' Yemen: the Brits and Saudi Arabia fighting on the side of the former leader's son vs. Egyptians and the USSR supporting a group of army officers who had lead a coup against him.
Meanwhile, the National Liberation Front (a Marxist, nationalist guerilla group) began a revolution against Britain in the south. Once they had the Brits running with their tails between their legs, the People's Republic of South Yemen needed some economic help (no more British cash and Suez Canal had been closed).
Who came to the rescue? Good old Mother Russia.
Civil war in 1986.
Reunification between north and south happened in 1990 (after South Yemen lost its source of cash with the collapse of the Soviet Union).
Power struggles led to another civil war in 1994, but the south was not strong enough to establish itself as its own state again and the northern ruler presides over the re-reunifed state.
According to an article reviewing the 10 years since reunification (using the 1990 date): "Given that the northern population outnumbered that of the south by more than four to one, it is scarcely surprising that the north won the war - though if it had failed to do so the result could have been very messy: fragmentation into more than two states or a descent into Somali-style anarchy were two scenarios postulated at the time."
Though elections have been held, Yemen isn't exactly a democracy. Like Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and Mahathir Mohamed in Malaysia, it isn't a real surprise when President Salih (ruler of the north since 1979 and of the whole of Yemen since 1990) wins yet again and his party retains a huge margin over the opposition.
Another article postulates that the reunification of Yemen should be used as a model for Korea, rather than that of East and West Germany. Instead of a complete takeover (ala West Germany of East), North and South Yemen shared power in a ratio of 3:2 based on negotiations.
"We suggest Korea takes a closer look at how the once-divided Yemen with two conflicting political systems _ capitalism and communism _ moved toward a united nation through negotiations between the two governments," the Economic Research Institute report said.
My friend Dan is currently studying Arabic in San'a (Yemen's capital) and doing some digging (archeological stuff). Here's a snippet of his last email to me:
"i guess for what its worth, i think you'd like yemen (although i have no idea what its really like to be a foreign women here. apparently, as i hear and see, you don't get harassed, but you do get stared at.). actually, i think the comparison of yemen to the midwest is somewhat sustainable. people here generally are nice, but keep to themselves. however, if you do befriend one, if only minimally, you will get the generous "arab" treatment which i hadn't ever really encountered before in egypt, syria, jordan or wherever--where everything had already been tainted by the tourist industry and therefore has a suspect side to it."
Mohamed is the Yemeni friend who started this whole thread (a word I just taught him tonight after his attempt to teach me a tongue twister in Arabic that meant 'a thread of silk on Khalil's wall'). He painted a picture of Yemen as the Wild West, with men carrying guns and short, decorated swords/knifes tucked into their belts.
Meanwhile, my Omani friends would have me believe that Oman is perfect. It's safe, everyone gets a good salary from the government, everyone has a house, free education, healthcare. When I asked them if they had any complaints, if they could think of anything that could be improved, they said no. Oman has a king and no farce of elections (Mohamed believed Oman's system to be superior to Yemen's). Oman has been added to my list of places to go (it'll never stop growing, my feet will never stop moving!). I've got to see this Utopia with my own eyes to believe it.
Roll Call
When I was back in the States, I was converting US$ to Malaysian Ringgit. Guess that means I've been here awhile...
Malaysia's Independence Day is August 31st, but there's been a large increase in signs of patriotism for the last week. Today I noticed flags hanging from every window of a building that is at least 20 stories high. Yesterday police on motorbikes stopped traffic to make way for a bunch of big motorcycles parading down the highway, each with its own little Malaysian flag flapping on back.
It hasn't rained in at least 10 days. Until now, it was raining at least every third day. And man, it gets HOT when it doesn't rain.
I was reflecting on how much energy certain cities require. In Cairo, there is definitely a great assault on all your senses: cars honking, people saying hello from every direction, traffic zooming by, crowded streets, strong smells, sun beating down, pollution, etc. But somehow, I feel like I had more energy there and could deal. Here, it's more humid, but in most other ways, life is easier. But I find myself less energized/more tired. Maybe it's just that I'm one year older now and that's taken its toll!?
Today's history lesson
What is the only Middle East country to have been communist?
The answer: Yemen.
I learned the rough details of what is written below from a Yemeni friend tonight over a cup of tea, but went a-Googlin' to fill in some of the details (instead of working on that 3 page To-Do list...).
In the 1960s, it seems everyone was 'helping' Yemen: the Brits and Saudi Arabia fighting on the side of the former leader's son vs. Egyptians and the USSR supporting a group of army officers who had lead a coup against him.
Meanwhile, the National Liberation Front (a Marxist, nationalist guerilla group) began a revolution against Britain in the south. Once they had the Brits running with their tails between their legs, the People's Republic of South Yemen needed some economic help (no more British cash and Suez Canal had been closed).
Who came to the rescue? Good old Mother Russia.
Civil war in 1986.
Reunification between north and south happened in 1990 (after South Yemen lost its source of cash with the collapse of the Soviet Union).
Power struggles led to another civil war in 1994, but the south was not strong enough to establish itself as its own state again and the northern ruler presides over the re-reunifed state.
According to an article reviewing the 10 years since reunification (using the 1990 date): "Given that the northern population outnumbered that of the south by more than four to one, it is scarcely surprising that the north won the war - though if it had failed to do so the result could have been very messy: fragmentation into more than two states or a descent into Somali-style anarchy were two scenarios postulated at the time."
Though elections have been held, Yemen isn't exactly a democracy. Like Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and Mahathir Mohamed in Malaysia, it isn't a real surprise when President Salih (ruler of the north since 1979 and of the whole of Yemen since 1990) wins yet again and his party retains a huge margin over the opposition.
Another article postulates that the reunification of Yemen should be used as a model for Korea, rather than that of East and West Germany. Instead of a complete takeover (ala West Germany of East), North and South Yemen shared power in a ratio of 3:2 based on negotiations.
"We suggest Korea takes a closer look at how the once-divided Yemen with two conflicting political systems _ capitalism and communism _ moved toward a united nation through negotiations between the two governments," the Economic Research Institute report said.
My friend Dan is currently studying Arabic in San'a (Yemen's capital) and doing some digging (archeological stuff). Here's a snippet of his last email to me:
"i guess for what its worth, i think you'd like yemen (although i have no idea what its really like to be a foreign women here. apparently, as i hear and see, you don't get harassed, but you do get stared at.). actually, i think the comparison of yemen to the midwest is somewhat sustainable. people here generally are nice, but keep to themselves. however, if you do befriend one, if only minimally, you will get the generous "arab" treatment which i hadn't ever really encountered before in egypt, syria, jordan or wherever--where everything had already been tainted by the tourist industry and therefore has a suspect side to it."
Mohamed is the Yemeni friend who started this whole thread (a word I just taught him tonight after his attempt to teach me a tongue twister in Arabic that meant 'a thread of silk on Khalil's wall'). He painted a picture of Yemen as the Wild West, with men carrying guns and short, decorated swords/knifes tucked into their belts.
Meanwhile, my Omani friends would have me believe that Oman is perfect. It's safe, everyone gets a good salary from the government, everyone has a house, free education, healthcare. When I asked them if they had any complaints, if they could think of anything that could be improved, they said no. Oman has a king and no farce of elections (Mohamed believed Oman's system to be superior to Yemen's). Oman has been added to my list of places to go (it'll never stop growing, my feet will never stop moving!). I've got to see this Utopia with my own eyes to believe it.
Roll Call
When I was back in the States, I was converting US$ to Malaysian Ringgit. Guess that means I've been here awhile...
Malaysia's Independence Day is August 31st, but there's been a large increase in signs of patriotism for the last week. Today I noticed flags hanging from every window of a building that is at least 20 stories high. Yesterday police on motorbikes stopped traffic to make way for a bunch of big motorcycles parading down the highway, each with its own little Malaysian flag flapping on back.
It hasn't rained in at least 10 days. Until now, it was raining at least every third day. And man, it gets HOT when it doesn't rain.
I was reflecting on how much energy certain cities require. In Cairo, there is definitely a great assault on all your senses: cars honking, people saying hello from every direction, traffic zooming by, crowded streets, strong smells, sun beating down, pollution, etc. But somehow, I feel like I had more energy there and could deal. Here, it's more humid, but in most other ways, life is easier. But I find myself less energized/more tired. Maybe it's just that I'm one year older now and that's taken its toll!?
