Executive Summary

This study examines the transformations in the role of the Yemeni tribe during the war and under the control of the Houthi group over large areas of northern and western Yemen. It proceeds from a central assumption: the tribe has not lost its presence, but it has been subjected to coercive reshaping that has turned it, in some areas, into a depleted actor in the war and, while other areas continues to be an influential local mediator capable of reducing violence and resolving disputes.

The analysis included in this file reviews the structure of the Yemeni tribe and traces the evolution of its relationship with the state. They show how the tribe has remained present in Yemeni politics, whether by supporting the state, competing with it, or replacing it when the state weakens. The study also examines the involvement of tribes in different stages of conflict, from the republican–imamate struggle, through the Saada wars, to the period that followed the Houthis’ takeover of Sana’a in 2014.

The study also focuses in particular on the Houthi relationship with the tribes. It argues that this relationship has shifted from co-optation and alliance to subjugation and direct control through policies that include the supervisor system, the marginalization of traditional sheikhs, recruitment, levies, and the deployment of religious and nationalist discourse.

The study concludes that the Houthis have achieved tactical success in mobilizing tribes and silencing part of the tribal opposition. Yet this success remains fragile because of accumulating social and economic fractures, continued human losses, and declining trust between the tribal communities and leaders linked to the group. By contrast, the tribe remains capable of playing an important role in mediation and peacebuilding, especially in local disputes and humanitarian issues, provided this role is supported and linked to the state project rather than the competing agendas of armed non-state groups.

Keywords: Yemeni tribe; conflict; Houthis; tribal custom; mediation; peacebuilding.