TRIBAL INFLUENCE ON THE FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE YEMENI ARMY: BETWEEN STATE-BUILDING AND FRAGMENTATION (1962–2024)

Abstrakt

This article examines how tribal structures shaped the formation and development of the Yemeni army between 1962 and 2024, and why tribal influence alternated between supporting state-building in moments of crisis and accelerating institutional fragmentation during periods of political contestation. Using a historical-institutionalist approach, it traces how collective recruitment through tribal intermediaries, patronage-based command relationships, and parallel loyalties became embedded in Yemen’s military institution. Empirically, it follows key phases: early republican military formation after 1962; the post-unification era in which divergent northern and southern legacies were merged without producing a unified institutional culture; and the post-2011 and post-2015 period in which the breakdown of centralized authority generated competing armies, militia–state entanglement, and externally sponsored formations. The findings highlight the emergence of a hybrid security order sustained by cross-border patronage networks and contested legitimacy. The article concludes that military reform is unlikely to succeed through rapid reunification alone and proposes a pragmatic pathway centered on gradual coordination and transitional institutional arrangements that rebuild professionalism and accountability under a shared national doctrine.