Rebel Governance: Ansar Allah in Yemen and the Democratic Union Party in Syria

The civil wars in Yemen and Syria are characterized by the simultaneous presence of third-party intervention and the emergence of rebel governance by the Ansar Allah movement (known as Houthis) and the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (Partiya Yekîtiya Demokrat – PYD), respectively. In this policy brief, we compare rebel governance structures in Yemen and Syria by focusing on how rebel rule relates to existing state institutions, and how external actors involved in the civil wars impact aspects of rebel governance. Data for this policy brief comes from the review of primary sources issued by the UN, Ansar Allah and the PYD, and secondary source material.