US President Barack Obama warned in his speech about Afghanistan this week that the world would face new threats as Al Qaeda established a foothold in other parts of the world.
One of the countries he singled out was Yemen.
It is the poorest state in the Arab world and is rapidly running out of oil and water. There are now growing fears that the impoverished nation could become an increasingly attractive Al Qaeda base.
During his speech, Mr Obama singled out Yemen and Somalia as two nations where Al Qaeda's influence was increasing
"We'll have to be nimble and precise in our use of military power," he said.
"Where Al Qaeda and its allies attempt to establish a foothold, whether in Somalia or Yemen or elsewhere, they must be confronted by growing pressure and strong partnerships."
For many years, Yemen has faced political and economic crises. With a population of 23 million people, it is the poorest Arabic nation and security is a growing concern.
Dr Sarah Phillips works at the Centre for International Security Studies at the University of Sydney.
She has just written a paper on Al Qaeda in Yemen for the Lowy Institute and says the country is an increasingly attractive base for the terrorist group.
"Yemen is quite a desirable operating environment in a number of ways," she said.
"For one, there is a strong tribal structure there, which if approached sensitively by people affiliated with Al Qaeda can afford some opportunity, particularly with regard to refuge, being able to hide while they plan operations both within Yemen but also abroad.
"It seems what they are doing now is, they are using Yemen largely as a place to plan operations and they now seem to be focusing their attentions more on conducting operations within Saudi Arabia."
Al Qaeda has had a presence in Yemen for years but Dr Phillips says it is now clear that Al Qaeda members are working hard to engage with local tribes and win their support.
Oil crisis
While the Yemeni Government has tried in the past to weed out Al Qaeda members, it is a task which is becoming increasingly difficult.
"The Yemeni Government is going through an extraordinary crisis at the moment and it's losing control over a number of areas of its periphery," says Dr Phillips.
"[The oil trade is drying up and it] is the biggest driver of Yemen's current crises. The oil production peaked in around about 2004 and it's now dropped substantially from that point.
"They're pumping around about 280,000 barrels a day at the moment, whereas back in 2004 it went to around 465,000, so it's a huge decline in a very short period of time.
"The Government gets about 75 per cent of its budget funding from oil, so that's really, really cutting at the Government's bottom line."
Professor Amin Saikal heads the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University.
"The West, in particular the United States, have taken serious interest in Yemen for some time and we know that there have been American drone attacks in Yemen which have targeted members of Al Qaeda, or at least the ones that are suspected to be members of Al Qaeda," he said.
"And also we know that there is closer intelligence collaboration or cooperation between the Yemeni authorities and the US authorities in terms of hunting down members of Al Qaeda.
"I think that process can now really enhance and I think the Americans would be very keen to see an enhancement of that process."
But Dr Phillips says defeating Al Qaeda in Yemen will not be straightforward.
"It's very difficult terrain for the West to operate in. I think the worst thing that the West could do would be to go in too heavy handed," she said.
"There's been, I understand, some talk the West could become a lot more involved in targeting leaders or perhaps even targeting them through the drones.
"I think that would really inflame the situation. I think local government really needs to take the lead on this. The problem of that is the local government's not really taking the lead."
Source:abc.net.au/
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