Introduction to International Politics

Foreign Event Analysis

Locale[]
Yemen
Title
Yemen Arrests Islamist Militants Allegedly Linked to Israel
Summary
Yemen authorities have arrested a group of Islamic militants they claim have ties to Israeli intelligence. The arrests came in response to the September 17th bombing of the US embassy in Yemen, an act in which the terror cell is said to be connected. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh made the claim that the group was connected to Israel during a meeting with various state leaders and officials at Al-Mukalla University. Israel has denied the claims, stating they are “far-fetched".
Analysis
Yemen clearly hopes to drive a wedge between Israel and the United States by claiming Israel is somehow responsible for the attacking of a US embassy. This is not surprising considering Yemen and Israel are far from friendly with each other. By attempting to make the United States more wary of Israel, Yemen hopes to make the United States more hesitant to back Israel unconditionally. This would decrease the power Israel has over its enemies like Yemen, thus making their states more secure.
It is, however, unlikely that Israel would organize a bombing of a US embassy. The only plausible reason for bombing their closest ally would be to whip up an anti-Islamic frenzy in the United States, making it more likely to support Israeli actions against Islamic states. This, however, would be unnecessary, as the United States has largely supported Israeli actions since its inception after World War II. Thus, it does not make sense that Israel would risk losing United States backing for what would only be at most an extremely small increase in already extremely large US support.
If anything, this action could spell consequences for Yemen. Instead of making the United States turn against Israel, it will most likely seem as if the Yemeni Government is taking advantage of the situation to unjustly drum up anti-Israeli sentiment, which it most likely is. While any serious repercussions are unlikely, it could be somewhat embarrassing for Yemen on the world stage.
Perspectiver
Realist
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Submitted
October 10, 2008 at 01:40 am