The 1990s witnessed the birth of an entity significantly different from its original constituent states. In addition to the process of establishing unified institutions, the decade was marked by increased revenues from oil exports, the worsening of the water crisis affecting agriculture and hence the income base for over 70 per cent of the population, the financial, economic and social crisis brought about by the 1990-91 Gulf War in the first half of the decade, and the greater influence of foreign aid institutions in the second half of the decade, in addition to the ongoing rapid increase in the population.The book brings together work by leading Yemeni and international scholars and addresses all these important developments, directly or indirectly, so as to provide a unique analysis of key economic, social and legal issues facing Yemen at the start of the twenty-first century.