"A small and extremely poor Islamic country, Yemen is located on the edge of the Arab world in the southernmost corner of the Arabian Peninsula. The current nation is the product of the unification of the Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen in May 1990. The location of the two Yemens on the world's busiest sea-lane at the southern end of the Red Sea where Asia almost meets Africa gave them strategic significance from the start of the age of imperialism through the cold war. More vital today is that Yemen shares a long border with oil-rich Saudi Arabia and is key in efforts to both spread and end global revolutionary Islam and its use of terror." "This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Yemen has been thoroughly updated and significantly expanded. Its list of acronyms and abbreviations, chronology, introductory essay, bibliography, and more than 800 cross-referenced dictionary entries give greater attention to foreign affairs, economic institutions and policies, social issues, religion, and politics."--BOOK JACKET.
