Late in the summer of 2014 militiamen loyal to the Houthi movement in Yemen’s northern highlands stormed the capital city of Sanaa. The stunning capture brought brief Western media attention to this chronically under-covered country, and disrupted the narrative that “stability” was returning to Yemen after the popular uprising against long-time President ‘Ali Abdallah Salih in 2011. Middle East Report 273 looks in depth at the roots of the war in Yemen.