Dr. Moosa Elayah
Assistant Professor of International Development, Peacebuilding and conflict studies
All the conflicting parties or forces in Yemen are weak and therefore, as I mentioned in many articles I have previously published, there is a balance of weakness. Previous experience informs us that peace dialogue between weak forces will not be feasible. The reason is very simple: each side believes it has the military and the combat decisiveness, while the truth isthat neither party can win the battle. For peace negotiations to succeed, historical experiences also inform us that there needs to be a weak force and a strong force, so the strong force may impose peace requirements on the weak one. In asituation of a balance of weakness, peace can only be achieved when the conflicting parties are concerned with the country’s needs and not the interests of its narrow leaders. They must have no external affiliations or be acting like internal or external gangs that are fighting and killing, as is happening in Yemen.
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