The Role of Muslim Brothers, Salafis, and Jihadis
Résumé
This chapter assesses multiple interactions between the various trends of Sunni Islamism in Yemen and the regional and international sphere, with an emphasis on the period since the Yemen war began in 2015. Drawing on a combination of primary and secondary sources, it analyzes how Yemen’s Muslim Brotherhood, Salafis, and Jihadis were influenced by and in turn influenced key regional and international actors, developments, and ideas. The global Jihadi movement, regional Salafi currents, and Muslim Brotherhood branches, all played relevant roles in shaping Yemen’s Sunni Islamism, together with regional powers such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, as well as global ones such as the US. The intended and unintended consequences of these interactions, coupled with the impact of the ever-evolving dynamics of Yemen’s tragic war, present greater challenges to classify Yemen’s Sunni Islamist trends according to conventional labels, for example, political/apolitical, peaceful/armed, local/national/global.