The Huthi Movement in Yemen: Ideology, Ambition and Security in the Arab Gulf (King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies Series)

"The Huthi rebels in Yemen are a resistance movement going back decades. Their revolution against Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2015 - and the subsequent proxy war between Iran, Saudi Arabia and the Huthis - has brought absolute devastation to the country. But who are the Huthis and how can we understand the group away from armed conflict and war? What has motivated their social movement to fundamentally re-shape Yemen, and what are the group's local and regional ambitions? This book provides the first comprehensive critical analysis dedicated to the Huthis. Across four parts and 17 chapters, the book examines how the movement is challenging traditional religious authority, re-shaping tribal values and roles in Yemen, constructing new collective memories and identities, and infusing Yemen's mediascape with their ideological creed. In examining the movement's specific ways of thinking and beliefs, the book also highlights its foreign policy within a regional policy of resistance to the United States, and it points towards what its impact on both Yemen and the security of the Arab Gulf region will be. The book brings together the leading experts on Yemen from diverse disciplines to provide readers with a nuanced and multi-layered approach to the understanding the Huthi movement"-- Provided by publisher Cover Contents Contributors Acknowledgments Introduction Abdullah Hamidaddin Section I Huthi Ideology and Belief System Chapter 1 The Huthi Movement’s Religious and Political Ideology and its Relationship to Zaydism in Yemen Bernard Haykel Chapter 2 Transformation of Dominant Political Themes from the Founder to the Current Leader of the Huthi Movement Mohammed Almahfali Chapter 3 The “Soft War” and the Past: The Huthi Movement’s use of Historical Narratives as Source of Legitimacy Alexander Weissenburger Section II Reconfiguring Yemen’s Society Chapter 4 Tribes and Rulers, 3.0—Dominance and the “Subaltern” in Huthi Yemen Marieke Brandt Chapter 5 Women Under the Huthi Regime: Gender, Nationalism, and Islam Ewa K.Strzelecka Chapter 6 Huthi Influence on Education: An Investigation of Interventions and Policies Shaker Lashuel Chapter 7 Propaganda, Creativity, and Diplomacy: The Huthis’ Adaptive Approach to Media and Public Messaging Hannah Porter Chapter 8 The Huthi Zamil: Folk Literature or Propaganda? Emily J. Sumner Section III Re-Engineering the State Chapter 9 “State” and Coercive Power in Yemen: The Huthis and the Tribal-Sectarian Field Anthony Chimente Chapter 10 Huthi Visions of the State: A Huthi Republic with an Unofficial Imam Charles Schmitz Chapter 11 Becoming the State: How Ansar Allah took Over and Adapted Formal Institutions at the Local Level Joshua Rogers Section IV Regional Impact Chapter 12 Hybrid Warfare—Lessons from the Saudi-Led Coalition’s Intervention in Yemen 2015–202? James Spencer Chapter 13 The Yemeni-Saudi Border: The Huthis and the Evolution of Hybrid Security Governance Eleonora Ardemagni Chapter 14 More Than a Proxy—The Huthis as a Non-State Actor with a Foreign Policy? Maria-Louise Clausen Index The Huthi rebels in Yemen are a resistance movement going back decades. Their coup against Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi in 2015 - and the subsequent Yemeni civil war and the intervention of the Arab coalition in support of Hadi - has brought absolute devastation to the country. But who are the Huthis and how can we understand the group away from armed conflict and war? What has motivated their social movement to fundamentally re-shape Yemen, and what are the group's local and regional ambitions? This book provides the first comprehensive critical analysis dedicated to the Huthis. Across four parts and 17 chapters, the book examines how the movement is challenging traditional religious authority, re-shaping tribal values and roles in Yemen, constructing new collective memories and identities, and infusing Yemen's mediascape with their ideological creed. In examining the movement's specific ways of thinking and beliefs, the book also highlights its foreign policy within a regional policy of resistance to the United States, and it points towards what its impact on both Yemen and the security of the Arab Gulf region will be. The book brings together the leading experts on Yemen from diverse disciplines to provide readers with a nuanced and multi-layered approach to understanding the Huthi movement.