Will Ruscitella / Block 5 / IR
This article discussed the current civil war in Yemen and the political division causing it, more specifically the Houthis threatening to widen the war in conquering a vital strait. The Houthis are a political organization supported by Iran fighting against the current Yemen government, Israel and the U.S. They are currently threatening to conquer the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait which is incredibly important as it is a key point in global trade and connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. If the Houthis do conquer this strait, it won’t just affect Yemen, it will impact all global trade, as Iran will have a hold on a imperative maritime area that is in control of food and energy supply. This would also cause further conflict with Saudi Arabia who is also currently in friction with the Houthis.
The internal conflicts between the Houthis and the Yemen Government are incredibly complicated. On one hand, the Houthis are opposing Israel and supporting Palestinian aid, which is morally correct in the face of a world that is in compliance with Israel’s genocide. The Houthis are also opposing a corrupt Yemeni government and fighting for liberation, which isn’t inherently bad. The nuance comes in when you look at the Houthis anti-semitic values and their internal violence against citizens. In conclusion, my support for the Houthis waivers, I do support their opposition to the Israeli Government, and the corrupt Yemen Government, but I can’t give a clear answer to if the conquering of the strait will have a positive or negative effect on a global scale as it will mean the Houthis will more than likely have the upper hand in the conflict. The question is nuanced between liberation for oppressed minorities and what is morally permissible in the fight for freedom.
To dive more into who the Houthis are, we must discuss how this movement started. The Houthis are formally known as “Ansar Allah” which means “God is the Greatest, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse be upon the Jews, Victory to Islam.” They arose in the 1990’s, and were made up mostly of Zaydis, one of the three denominations of Shia Islam. The Houthis have been a part of Iran’s “Axis Of Resistance” which is an informal political militaristic alliance in the middle east. This organization has a few other main points, opposing the current corrupt Yemen government, ending political and religious conflict with Zaydi-Shias, and economically developing Yemen. To connect this back to class, we can see there is a clear non state-actor, the Houthis, supported by multi-nation state Iran. This organization desires the full, sole sovereignty of the nation state of Yemen. The Houthis want to be able to have full government control and make their own laws and rules, and be recognized as the Yemeni Government. Multinational Corporations have also played a key role in this war, as they have supplied missiles and military equipment in order to make money, which exacerbates the war.