Speaking with World Politics Review, AGSIW Executive Vice President and former U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Stephen A. Seche commented on the role of former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh in the conflict in Yemen: “Saleh was very adept at ringing alarm bells, at creating sense of imminent threat.” He added, “Saleh is so woven into the fabric of that country. It’s like his oxygen … If he were to go somewhere else, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates or Oman, what would he do? All he can do is sit around with his cronies and talk about Yemen. He is absolutely a product of his place, in that he came to power and stayed and decided not to go away.”