Last week, I received a troubling note from a friend in Yemen. “The situation is desperate,” he told me. “The bombings will continue for at least another six months. There will be devastating shortages of basic goods. My children are scared and I am not sure what to do.”

Messages like this have become commonplace, along with the accompanying rage. How is it possible that within five years, we have gone from an impressive revolutionary push with a broad base in Yemeni society, to Saudi Arabian fighter jets bombing large parts of the country as the Houthis consolidate power?

Due to Yemen’s marginalization — it is the poorest country in the Arab world — there are now few dependable Anglophone specialists on the country. After the decline of revolutionary governments during the Cold War, there have been too few geostrategic interests to attract Western interest.