How can we manage expectations in States in transition?

What of the GCC’s role in Yemen’s national Dialogue?
 
Yemen’s national dialogue is part of the Gulf Co-operation Council’s plan for the Arab Spring’s only negotiated transition so far. The initiative is significance not only for Yemen, but for the wider region and beyond.
Stakeholders need to be realistic about how many and how much of their stated objectives they can attain. Hopes for rapid economic development to achieve living standards similar to those in GCC states are as unrealistic as expectations that Yemen will quickly become a beacon of a democratic society free of patronage, governed by the rule of law, in which minorities are respected and protected, and which is an anchor of regional security and stability. The National Dialogue conference can, at best, create a framework for achieving them: establishing the necessary institutions and building the trust among all stake holders to implement, and abide by, them.
Expectation management also requires a greater degree of alignment of objectives among stakeholders. Regional stability (and the associated management of threats from international terrorism and piracy, to name but two) is a key concern for external stakeholders from neighbouring Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries, to the US, Russia, and the European Union.
Avoiding a violent escalation of tensions inside Yemen and managing an increasingly grave humanitarian situation are among the crucial problems that domestic stakeholders face. These are not mutually exclusive objectives, and in fact they are closely related to, and in their attainment dependent on, each other.