NEW EASTERN OUTLOOK 🌐 (@NEO_Journal)

🇾🇪🎯🇸🇦The Yemen Trap: How Saudi Arabia Lost to the Houthis – and Why It Now Needs the World's Help ➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿ After spending a decade trying to defeat the Houthis through military intervention, Saudi Arabia is now asking the world to confront a movement that emerged from that war stronger than ever. Riyadh is seeking to mobilize international support to counter Houthi attacks on maritime shipping in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab. ✏️Salman Rafi Sheikh is a research analyst of international relations and Pakistan's foreign and domestic affairs. ➡️Nearly 15 percent of global seaborne trade passes through the Red Sea. Since late 2023, Houthi attacks have disrupted shipping routes, increased insurance premiums, and forced rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope. Riyadh insisted for nearly a decade that the Houthi challenge could be addressed through a Saudi-led military campaign. Today, it argues the same challenge requires collective international action—an implicit acknowledgment that the Houthis have evolved beyond what Saudi Arabia can manage alone. Operation Decisive Storm in March 2015 aimed to restore President Hadi and roll back Houthi gains. Instead, the movement survived and consolidated control over much of northern Yemen. If the international community accepts Saudi Arabia's invitation without simultaneously investing in a credible political process for Yemen, it may succeed in protecting ships while failing, once again, to secure peace. ➡️Saudi Arabia is reframing the Houthis as a threat to global commerce, international energy markets, and freedom of navigation. This allows Riyadh to redefine the conflict not as an intervention in Yemen's internal politics but as a contribution to protecting the global commons. Since 2022, Saudi foreign policy has been characterized by de-escalation—the Chinese-brokered restoration of relations with Iran and direct negotiations with the Houthis. Those efforts failed to resolve the underlying balance of power. The Houthis retained military infrastructure, expanded missile and drone production, and demonstrated increasing operational reach. Riyadh appears to be seeking burden-sharing—distributing the costs of containing the Houthis among a wider group of international stakeholders. 🟦Burden-sharing should not be confused with burden-shifting. The Houthis' rise unfolded within the context of a prolonged Saudi military intervention that failed to achieve its stated objectives. An international coalition may protect shipping lanes but cannot resolve the political conflict sustaining Houthi power in Yemen. The Houthis function as a governing authority across large parts of northern Yemen—administer state institutions, collect taxes, and command organized military forces. History offers caution: the Saudi-led coalition entered Yemen in 2015 believing superior military capabilities would reverse Houthi gains. Instead, the Houthis emerged with greater battlefield experience, more sophisticated weapons, and increased regional influence. If the international community accepts Saudi Arabia's invitation without investing in a credible political process, it may succeed in protecting ships while failing to secure peace. READ MORE #Yemen #SaudiArabia #Houthis #RedSea #BabElMandeb #Geopolitics #MaritimeSecurity ✅@NewEasternOutlook