  Yemen is considered a global terrorist base for Al-Qaeda and in recent years
rampant violence is threatening social order. Here we show that the
socio-economic origins of violence recently changed. Prior to 2008, violence
can be attributed to inter-group conflict between ethnically and religiously
distinct groups. Starting in 2008, increasing global food prices triggered a
new wave of violence that spread to the endemically poor southern region with
demands for government change and economic concessions. This violence shares
its origins with many other food riots and the more recent Arab Spring. The
loss of social order and the opportunities for terror organizations can be best
addressed by directly eliminating the causes of violence. Inter-group violence
can be addressed by delineating within-country provinces for local autonomy of
ethnic and religious groups. The impact of food prices can be alleviated by
direct food price interventions, or by addressing the root causes of global
food price increases in US policies that have promoted conversion of corn to
ethanol and commodity speculation. Addressing the food prices is the most
urgent concern as a new bubble in food prices has been projected to begin
before the end of 2012.
