THE IMPACT OF REGIONAL POWERS IN INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT: THE YEMEN EXPERIENCE

Abstract

The paper investigated the Impact of Regional Powers in International Conflict: The Yemen Experience. Socio-economic and political development cannot thrive in an atmosphere of conflict. The Yemen conflict is regarded as one of the most devastating conflicts in the international system as the crisis has created grave humanitarian concern in the international system resulting to the loss of lives, destruction of properties and the social displacement of people. The varied interest espoused by different countries in the Middle East (regional powers) such as Iran and Saudi Arabia has further escalated the conflict making it difficult to bring the conflict to an end. The th Conflict Theory developed by Karl Marx in the 19 century was adopted as the theoretical framework for the study. Secondary source of data was employed for the study; it involves the collection of data from textbooks, journal, article and seminar papers etc. The work found out that there are numerous regional powers to the Yemen conflict; Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Sudan etc. These countries have specific interest which they seek to actualize in Yemen. Their involvement as further complicated the conflict and impacted negatively on the outcome of the war. The study recommends that there is need for continuous negotiations among the various groups with the involvement of the international community to arrive at a peaceful resolution to the protracted conflict in Yemen.