The Impact of Individuals
No single foreign or domestic power was able to exercise control over events in Yemen, which created an opportunity for many to have a lasting presence in South Arabia. Three individuals, in particular, made inroads in Yemen that impacted the course of the civil war and the future of the country: Bruce Condé, an eclectic American philatelist, became postmaster general of Imam al-Badr’s tribal areas and singlehandedly brought tribal nonstate actors a level of international legitimacy. André Rochat brought the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to Yemen for the first time and played an important role in royalist healthcare and the adoption of Geneva Conventions in Yemen. Dr. James Young led a group of Southern Baptist missionaries in founding a modern Western hospital in the rural village of Jibla, amidst one of the most religiously conservative societies in the world.