S. V. KOSTELYANETS Candidate of Political Sciences Institute of Africa, Russian Academy of Sciences Keywords: Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Morocco, Senegal, external intervention, civil war, international coalition The rise in tensions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in recent years is accompanied by an unprecedented level of open military intervention by global and regional actors - as part of temporary international coalitions of various configurations - in internal conflicts that have flared up in a number of countries in the region. The main difference between such temporary coalitions and military-political blocs is their limited time and space limits and the specific tasks assigned to them. In this regard, it is important to consider the reasons and the process of creating military coalitions, the determining element of which is to compare the costs of attracting and retaining States in the coalition with the military, political, and image advantages obtained from their participation. It is also important to legitimize military intervention, which is more easily solved by a broad coalition. Currently, in this region, military coalitions are involved in civil wars in Libya, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. The international coalition also operates in neighboring Afghanistan. From the point of view of analyzing the parameters of African countries ' participation in military coalitions, the Saudi-led operation in Yemen is the most interesting. Although this is not the only international military operation in which African countries are partners, it is here that they are most widely represented. The current civil war in Yemen, which began in the summer of 2014, is another round of conflict between the Shiite - Zaydi* living in the north of the country and demanding autonomy or even the creation of a theocratic state in Yemen, and the Sunni majority government. It is believed that the Zaydites are supported by Iran, as well as the Shiites of other countries. ... Read more