The US administration’s recent airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen mark a strategic shift, as Washington is now explicitly targeting the Houthi leadership in its efforts to restore freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. While the assassination of Houthi leaders would no doubt be a blow to the group, it’s unclear whether the tactic would threaten its survival, as…

“Our main challenge as women in Yemen is simply the fact that we are women,” - Sahar Ghanem, Yemeni Ambassador to the Netherlands. “How can women have a strong presence [in diplomacy] when we aren’t in decision-making positions at all?” - Female Yemeni diplomat. The underrepresentation of women in Yemen’s political and public sphere existed before the war and has…

The first weeks of 2025 offered hope that peace in Gaza could offer a reprieve in Yemen, as Houthi (Ansar Allah) leader Abdelmalek al-Houthi announced on January 16 that the group would suspend its attacks on commercial vessels, and a January 19 letter to shipping companies stated that any future strikes in the Red Sea would be limited to Israeli-linked…

The year-long Houthi (Ansar Allah) campaign of military attacks on Red Sea shipping came to a halt on January 19, following news of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. Houthi leader Abdelmalek al-Houthi announced a conditional suspension of the attacks on US- and UK-affiliated shipping as long as Western airstrikes in Yemen ceased. However, the group said Israeli-linked vessels would still…

The first quarter of 2025 saw escalating US sanctions against the Houthis. The sanctions, intended to suffocate the Houthis financially, could have a negative impact on Yemen’s already fragile financial system, and threaten to disrupt flows of crucial humanitarian aid and remittances, further destabilizing the economy. In mid-January, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)…

Ever since the Houthis started disrupting commercial marine traffic through the Red Sea in late 2023, calls for the use of force have been sounded from every corner of the anti-Houthi camp. The Yemeni government has advocated for international military action, while UAE-sponsored armed groups have hinted at their willingness to spearhead an international offensive against the Houthis. Clearly, none…

All eyes were on the Iranian capital, Tehran, where Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman arrived on April 17. His visit, during which he was accompanied by several other senior Saudi officials, including Mohammed al-Jaber, the Saudi Ambassador to Yemen, is the most significant development in Saudi-Iranian relations since the China-brokered rapprochement between the two countries in 2023. Prince…

Recently leaked US attack plans, shared inadvertently with Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, were startling not just in their disclosure but in what they disclosed – that the Trump administration may have no intermediate or long-term plan for how to deal with the Houthis. Rather, the airstrikes appear intended simply to reassert American power, with little concern for their potential to escalate Yemen’s civil war, the security risks this would produce, or the humanitarian toll it would exact.