Yemen emerged in 1990 from the reunification of South Yemen and North Yemen, which fought bitter wars in 1972 and 1979. But its leaders have never been able to integrate the tribes, the primary units of Yemen’s social structure, into the political system in a manner that generates their unequivocal acceptance of the sovereign state.
该地区的其他国家也从建国伊始就开始摇摇欲坠。1990年，1972—1979年间打过苦仗的南也门和北也门重新统一为也门。但也门领导人从未能够将部落以促使它们明确接受主权国家的形式纳入政治体系，而部落乃是也门社会结构的基本单元。