After 6 years of war, thousands of missiles and bombs, hundreds of thousands of deaths, and the world's worst humanitarian crisis, Yemen is so divided that it is unlikely that a single country will return.

This was stated

in an article by

Gregory de Jonsen, a researcher at the Foreign Policy Institute at the Near East Policy Center, published on the BROOKINGS website.

He explained that Yemen will not return to the division between north and south before 1990, and instead of one or two Yemen, now there are small states and areas controlled by an increasing number of armed groups, each of which has different goals and paths.

The Seven States

The writer listed the areas of control for each of these forces, as he said that the northern heights are controlled by the Houthis, and along the Red Sea coast, Tariq Saleh, the nephew of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, is led by fighters backed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE stationed on the Houthi front lines in Hodeidah.

Inside, in Taiz, the Houthis control the northern part of the governorate, and the Islah party forces control the city of Taiz and a large part of the countryside south of the city, according to the writer.

The separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) controls the southern port city of Aden after expelling President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's forces in August 2019. The Southern Transitional Council and its military units support the Emirates, which oppose the Islah party "on the basis of its ties to the Muslim Brotherhood."

Another group backed by the UAE, the Giants Brigades led by the Salafists, is active in northern Aden in Lahj.

Many of these fighters prefer secession as well, but reject the leadership of the Southern Transitional Council.

And in Marib, the site of the current Houthi offensive, Islah is in control.

Hadhramaut is divided between the UAE-backed Hadrami Elite Forces that control the coast, and Islah affiliated units inside.

Tribes loyal to the Houthi group during a gathering on the outskirts of Sanaa July 8, 2020 (Reuters)

And in Al-Mahra governorate, on the eastern border of Yemen, paramilitary groups, backed by Saudi Arabia, control.

The Southern Transitional Council controls Socotra Island.

Hadi units hold the Yemeni "power triangle", oil and gas fields in Marib, Shabwa and Hadramout.

The writer goes on to say that none of these various armed groups is strong enough to impose their will on the rest of the country.

Yet almost all of these groups possess enough men and ammunition to act to sabotage any national peace agreement they feel does not adequately address their interests.

Even more disturbing, according to the author, is the fact that the longer the fighting continues, the more likely there will be more armed groups to emerge.

If we take this into account, according to the article, with the fact that Yemen has a constantly shrinking economy, more and more groups will fight in the future over fewer and fewer resources.

The writer pointed out that the (owners) of the various peace efforts do not seem to realize this, and the decision made by Hadi to divide the Central Bank in 2016 made Yemen two separate economies, as the riyal is traded at a price in Sanaa, which is controlled by the Houthis, and another in Aden.

The article concludes that the disintegration of Yemen poses a number of challenges to America, as it will not recognize all the warlords and the various armed groups that control the land in the country, but for various reasons, from combating "terrorism" to humanitarian concerns and refugee fears to shipping lanes in the Red Sea, She will have to deal with many of them.