America and the Yemens: A Complex and Tragic Encounter [Hardcover]

In this book, Bruce Riedel, one of Americas leading experts on the Middle East, provides a history of US relations with the various entities of north and south Yemen, and the first in-depth review of Americas role in the deadly Saudi directed war in the Yemens. Three PresidentsObama, Trump, and Biden-- have been deeply involved in this conflict. Riedel places this current war in the context of Americas history of engaging with the Yemens. From President Kennedys handling of a Soviet and Egyptian coup in Yemen in the fall of 1962 to multiple Presidents interaction with the dictator Ali Abdallah Salih who united the Yemens this is a fascinating story with a colorful cast of characters,America and the Yemenswill be of interest to readers seeking to have a better understanding of Americas role in the Middle East and the tragic encounter that has created the worst humanitarian catastrophe in our lives.Bruce Riedelis a Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies program at the Brookings Institution where he specializes in the Middle East and South Asia. His previous books includeKings and Presidents: Saudi Arabia and the United States Since FDR, Beirut 1958: How America's Wars in the Middle East Began, andJordan and America: An Enduring Friendship.He resides in Chestertown, Maryland.

America and the Yemens: A Tragic Encounter is a masterful account by one of America's foremost intelligence and national security analysts of a country cursed in its geography and history. Bruce Riedel weaves this narrative from his vast experience in the White House, CIA and Pentagon under four Presidents as they tried to navigate the perilous territory of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf - both during the rise of al-Qaeda, and after indigenous rivalries were further radicalized by the American invasion of Iraq. Riedel is an omnipresent narrator with unique first-person knowledge of the roots of Yemen's tragic civil war. This book is must reading for lS.