Clinton: Yemen is an ‘urgent national security priority’

Secretary Clinton said today that Yemen’s instability is “an urgent national security priority.” She made the remarks in London where she attended a meeting about Yemen in the wake of the Christmas Day underpants bomber. In a news conference after the meeting, she said: To help the people of Yemen, we — the international community ...

By , copy chief at Foreign Policy from 2009-2016 and was an assistant editor from 2007-2009.
Photos, top to bottom: Ben Stansall/WPA Pool/Getty Images, Lefteris Pitarakis - WPA Pool/Getty Images
Photos, top to bottom: Ben Stansall/WPA Pool/Getty Images, Lefteris Pitarakis - WPA Pool/Getty Images
Photos, top to bottom: Ben Stansall/WPA Pool/Getty Images, Lefteris Pitarakis - WPA Pool/Getty Images

Secretary Clinton said today that Yemen's instability is "an urgent national security priority." She made the remarks in London where she attended a meeting about Yemen in the wake of the Christmas Day underpants bomber. In a news conference after the meeting, she said:

Secretary Clinton said today that Yemen’s instability is “an urgent national security priority.” She made the remarks in London where she attended a meeting about Yemen in the wake of the Christmas Day underpants bomber. In a news conference after the meeting, she said:

To help the people of Yemen, we — the international community — must do more.… The government of Yemen must also do more. This must be a partnership if it is to have a successful outcome.”

At the meeting, she said, according to prepared remarks:

Yemen’s challenges are not going to be solved by military action alone.”

and:

Progress against violent extremists and progress toward a better future for the Yemeni people … will also depend on fortifying development effort.”

Clinton also met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (below) and pushed for tough international sanctions against Iran if it can’t prove its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Lefteris Pitarakis - WPA Pool/Getty Images

Lefteris Pitarakis - WPA Pool/Getty Images

Preeti Aroon was copy chief at Foreign Policy from 2009-2016 and was an assistant editor from 2007-2009. Twitter: @pjaroonFP

More from Foreign Policy

Children are hooked up to IV drips on the stairs at a children's hospital in Beijing.
Children are hooked up to IV drips on the stairs at a children's hospital in Beijing.

Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak

Authorities are covering up the spread of antibiotic-resistant pneumonia.

Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980.
Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980.

Henry Kissinger, Colossus on the World Stage

The late statesman was a master of realpolitik—whom some regarded as a war criminal.

A Ukrainian soldier in helmet and fatigues holds a cell phone and looks up at the night sky as an explosion lights up the horizon behind him.
A Ukrainian soldier in helmet and fatigues holds a cell phone and looks up at the night sky as an explosion lights up the horizon behind him.

The West’s False Choice in Ukraine

The crossroads is not between war and compromise, but between victory and defeat.

Illustrated portraits of Reps. MIke Gallagher, right, and Raja Krishnamoorthi
Illustrated portraits of Reps. MIke Gallagher, right, and Raja Krishnamoorthi

The Masterminds

Washington wants to get tough on China, and the leaders of the House China Committee are in the driver’s seat.