With limited natural resources, a crippling illiteracy rate and high population growth, Yemen faces an array of daunting development challenges that some observers believe make it at risk for becoming a failed state. As the country's population rapidly rises, resources dwindle, terrorist groups take root in the outlying provinces, and a southern secessionist movement grows, the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress are left to grapple with the consequences of Yemeni instability. Additionally, limited capacity and widespread corruption at all levels of Afghan governance are growing factors in the debate over the effectiveness of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. This book provides an overview of the fragile mideast countries of Afghanistan and Yemen.