Read the full analysis on the National Interest.

Ali Abdullah Saleh’s violent death on December 4, after a weekend of intense conflict in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, brings to an end the remarkable three-decade-long career of Yemen’s most dominant political leader since the establishment of the Republic in 1962. He will be remembered for both the good he did, such as engineering Yemen’s unification in 1990 and promoting many of the steps to modernize the country over the course of his rule, but he will be remembered for some bad things, too. Saleh’s corrupt reign deprived Yemen’s people of billions of dollars that could have been used to advance its social and economic development, and his failure to foster real institutional development left the country ill-prepared to carry on after a popular uprising in 2011 forced him from office.

Not content to retire quietly after his resignation in 2012, Saleh maneuvered continuously to undercut his successor, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and to obstruct the political transition he accepted in 2011. Ultimately, his effort to regain his position at the top of Yemen’s political hierarchy led to his improbable alliance with the arch-rival Houthis. It was never a comfortable arrangement, and as the years of conflict ground on, the level of distrust between the parties grew until the Houthis successfully isolated and marginalized him. It was that reality that led to Saleh’s dramatic “Hail Mary” gambit over the weekend to renounce his Houthi allies and seek a rapprochement with the Saudis and their coalition. It was quintessential Saleh, “the man who danced on the heads of snakes,” and it failed spectacularly.

Where does this leave Yemen? Probably not in a greatly different position than it was in before the weekend’s events. While Saleh had joined with the Houthis in 2014 as a co-equal and brought military capability and tribal support to the partnership, the Houthis had successfully eliminated his advantage over the ensuing months and years. Infiltrating pro-Saleh military units, including the Republican Guard, the Houthis replaced Saleh loyalists in the officer corps with their own followers. When the conflict started, it was Ali Abdullah Saleh’s forces that were able to utilize Scud missiles in the fighting, including cross-border attacks into Saudi Arabia. In recent weeks, it is clearly the Houthis who are in command of Yemen’s Scud arsenal, benefiting from training and assistance from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah elements. While the remaining units loyal to Saleh may abandon the Houthis and join forces with the anti-Houthi coalition, it’s not clear that their defection will alter the balance in the year-long military stalemate between the Houthis and the government/Coalition forces. Tribes, forever with their finger to the wind, will be reluctant to commit to an anti-Houthi uprising absent some clear sign that the effort will succeed.

The Middle East Institute (MEI) is an independent, non-partisan, non-for-profit, educational organization. It does not engage in advocacy and its scholars’ opinions are their own. MEI welcomes financial donations, but retains sole editorial control over its work and its publications reflect only the authors’ views. For a listing of MEI donors, please click here.