Patronage Politics in Transition: Political and Economic Interests of the Yemeni Armed Forces

"Patronage Politics in Transition: Political and Economic Interests of the Yemeni Armed Forces" in Businessmen in Arms: How the Military and Other Armed Groups Profit in the MENA Region (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016)

by Adam C. Seitz

Chapter in edited volume Businessmen in Arms: How the Military and Other Armed Groups Profit in the MENA Region (Rowman & Littlefield 2016) edited by Elke Grawert and Zeinab Abul-Magd.

The Arab Uprisings have brought renewed attention to the role of the military in the MENA region, where they are either the backbone of regime power or a crucial part of patronage networks in political systems. This collection of essays from international experts examines the economic interests of armed actors ranging from military businesses in Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Jordan, Sudan, and Yemen to retired military officers’ economic endeavors and the web of funding of non-state armed groups in Syria and Libya. Due to the combined power of business and arms, the military often manages to incorporate or quell competing groups and thus, to revert achievements of revolutionary movements.

Book and ebook available for purchase at:
https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442254558/Businessmen-in-Arms-How-the-Military-and-Other-Armed-Groups-Profit-in-the-MENA-Region#
https://www.amazon.com/Businessmen-Arms-Military-Groups-Profit/dp/1442254556

REVIEWS

The first truly comparative analysis of the political economy of armed forces in the MENA, this fine collection reveals militarization’s widespread, profound and devastating consequences for the region’s development.
— Robert Springborg, professor (ret.) of National Security Affairs, Naval Postgraduate School


Armed forces in the Middle East and North Africa have become industrial, agricultural and commercial enterprises as much as they are instruments of political coercion and national defense, yet we know very little about the dynamics and mechanics of military-run businesses across the region. This collection of conceptually informed, up-to-date surveys raises the bar for scholarship on the economics of military governance from Libya to Pakistan, Turkey to Yemen. Recognized experts who have undertaken path-breaking fieldwork offer factual information and interpretive insights that can be found nowhere else.
— Fred H. Lawson, author of Global Security Watch Syria