Introduction

Yemen is situated in the Arabian Peninsula, but it is alone in not being a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). To explain this situation requires some fundamental analysis of the many factors which make the country unique in the area. Unlike the other states in the peninsula, Yemen is a republic, it has a relatively high population density, the overwhelming majority of its population are native Yemenis, and the majority of them are poor rural people living from agriculture, livestock herding and fisheries. State income from petroleum exports peaked in 2001 with a production of 400,000 barrels/day. To explain the significance of this one need only point out that at that time its population was 18 million nationals with a per capita GDP of USD 546, while Saudi Arabia produced 8 million barrels/day of oil and had a population of 21 million [including 5.7 million non-Saudis] and a per capita GDP of USD 8,760. Regardless of any other factors, it is unarguable that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has played the most important role in determining both Yemen's foreign relations and even its internal politics for decades. Given its population, its geographical size and its financial clout, Saudi Arabia is by far the most important state in the peninsula. Other GCC states, however wealthy per capita, cannot compete on the regional or global scale. With respect to Yemen, only Saudi Arabia and Oman share a joint border.

Open public intervention of GCC states in Yemeni affairs is a new development, which emerged with the Saudi-led coalition's military intervention since March 2015. But less obvious, though arguably as significant, discreet interference in Yemeni affairs has been a major element of Saudi Arabian policy since the creation of the Kingdom, and Yemen has also had a prominent role in the other GCC states, through migration, political influence, and economic relations. This chapter provides an outline of the history of the relations of the various GCC states and Iran with Yemen, focusing on their visions and concerns, while not neglecting the Yemeni side. It presents an overview of the broader regional context to clarify the detailed analyses of specific issues to be found in the following chapters. This chapter will not examine the political or indeed detailed military role of the other members of the coalition, primarily because this book is concerned with Gulf-Yemen relations and the involvement of Egyptian, Sudanese and other forces are more closely connected with those states relationships with the GCC than with Yemen itself.