San Diego World Affairs Council: A Tragedy Under the Radar in Yemen

The San Diego World Affairs Council invites you to a discussion about the politics, security, and culture of Yemen featuring distinguished speaker, Joël Fort, who lived in Yemen from 2005-2010. During his time in Yemen, Joël was tasked with implementing the largest ever industrial project in the country – to build from scratch a plant that would liquefy natural gas piped from Yemeni fields located in the center of the country and exporting it from an export terminal at the southern coast.

This presentation will share some high-level data about Yemen, its vast geography and historical background and also personal insights into Ali Abdalah Saleh, the Yemeni president during his tenure. Joël will also talk about safety and security from his day-to-day experiences, the extraordinary beauty of the Yemeni landscapes and architecture, tribal customs around water scarcity, religion, cooking, music, the myths of the Queen of Sheba, Moka coffee and the pervasive practice of chewing “qat.”