Yemen's 1972 and 1979 Border Wars: The Two Yemeni States

In the 1970s, North and South Yemen—two ideologically opposed republics—fought two short but brutal border wars that shaped the trajectory of modern Yemen. This episode covers the 1972 conflict, where North Yemen's Imam al-Badr loyalists and Saudi-backed tribes clashed with the Marxist People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, and the 1979 war, which saw South Yemen's Soviet-equipped army nearly overrun the North before Arab League mediation. We discuss the role of Colonel Ali Abdullah Saleh, then a rising military officer, the Qat chewing sessions that served as informal diplomacy, and how these wars set the stage for the 1990 unification. Featuring the battles of Qa'tabah, Harib, and the key ceasefire talks in Kuwait, this episode explores how Cold War rivalries and intra-Yemeni strife turned the border into a flashpoint.

#Yemen #NorthYemen #SouthYemen #1972BorderWar #1979BorderWar #AliAbdullahSaleh #NationalFront #Qat #Harib #QaTabah #KuwaitCeasefire #ArabLeague #ColdWar #MarxistYemen #SovietUnion #SaudiArabia #History #FexingoHistory

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