Despite claiming they are poised to attack, the Yemeni Houthis have yet to join Iran and its other proxies in their fight against the United States and Israel. Hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj speak to MEI Associate Fellow Nadwa Al-Dawsari to unpack why the Houthis continue to stay on the sidelines of the Iran war and what might prompt them to join the fray. They also discuss the Houthis’ evolving role within the Axis of Resistance, what the Yemeni group has learned from its earlier rounds of direct conflict with Israel and the US, as well as whether its actions could precipitate a renewed flareup in Yemen’s civil war.
Iran’s insurance policy: Why the Houthis have stayed out of the fight
Nearly two weeks into the Iran war, one of Tehran’s most capable and disruptive regional allies, Yemen’s Houthi movement, has not entered the fight. The Houthis’ restraint reflects a strategic calculation by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Saudi Arabia has stepped up its efforts to unify and restructure Yemen’s anti-Houthi forces after the rapid expansion and sudden implosion of the United Arab Emirates-backed secessionist Southern Transitional Council following Abu Dhabi’s military withdrawal from the country.
Peacebuilding in the Time of War: Tribal Cease-fire and De-escalation Mechanisms in Yemen
As the current U.N.-led political negotiations between the Yemeni government and the Houthis seem to have hit a dead end, there has been growing interest in exploring the role tribal leaders and local tribes can play in ending Yemen’s conflict. The role of Yemeni tribes, however, remains largely misunderstood, and the authority of tribal leaders and the influence of tribes on national political decision making are often overestimated. This report looks into the possibilities and limitations of tribal mediation on de-escalation and cease-fire. It argues that while the tribes developed relatively effective mechanisms to limit the spread of violence into their areas, there are major limitations to their ability to mediate the national-level and political conflict.
For Yemen’s Houthis, the status quo is the key to power
On Monday, March 22, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud, proposed an initiative to end the war in Yemen in an offer that addressed various long-standing issues that the Houthis wanted to resolve, including lifting land and sea restrictions, and allowing fuel and food imports to the Houthi-held port of Hodeidah. The initiative proposed engaging the parties to the conflict to find a comprehensive peace agreement. The problem, however, is that the Houthis have no incentive to accept any peace proposal for the time being because a resolution to Yemen’s war, at least for now, is at odds with their political and military strategy.
Yemen’s prisoners of war and detainees: Lessons learned from local mediation
Prisoners of war and political and civilian detainees are two of the most important humanitarian issues in Yemen. Local mediation has had impressive results, and local mediators, including women, have become key players in resolving this issue. Experience has shown that to bring an end to the war in Yemen, international mediators need to stop ignoring and excluding local efforts and peace builders. Achieving sustainable peace will not happen without the equal involvement of women leaders and the inclusion of those who had no hand in the war.
How is Iran responding to Biden’s policy shift on Yemen?
On Feb. 4, President Joe Biden announced the end of U.S. support for the Saudi Arabia-led coalition’s offensive military operations in Yemen. This decision fuelled optimism about a U.S. return to negotiations over the JCPOA with Iran. Instead of engaging with the United States, Iran has supported the Houthi-orchestrated Marib offensive and stepped up its diplomatic efforts in Yemen.
Yemen’s Joint Declaration: A bigger repeat of the stalled Hodeida Agreement?
With debate on Yemen in recent weeks focused on the decision by the U.S. State Department to revoke the Houthis’ designation as an FTO, the Joint Declaration (JD) proposal by U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths has received relatively little attention. Since the global outbreak of COVID-19 a year ago, the U.N. special envoy has sought to use the urgency engendered by the pandemic to broker a nationwide cease-fire alongside a set of confidence-building measures — branded as the JD — between the Houthi rebels and the Republic of Yemen Government. But the content of the proposal is not new, nor is it a recipe for effective de-escalation and sustainable conflict resolution.
Sahar Khamis, Sabina Henneberg, Karam Shaar, and Ibrahim Jalal join host Alistair Taylor to examine the legacy and impact of the Arab Spring in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and Syria ten years after the uprisings began.
Opinion: Yemen's Arab Spring goals were lost. Here's how to bring them back
The president’s decision to end support for Saudi Arabia’s offensive operations in Yemen was certainly broadly anticipated. Nevertheless, it offers new hope for an end to more than six years of brutal conflict that has largely pitted Saudi-led coalition forces against Houthi rebels supported by Iran.
Why the “end the Yemen war” narrative is problematic
On Feb. 4, the Biden administration announced the appointment of Timothy Lenderking as the U.S. special envoy to Yemen. In a televised speech, President Joe Biden said that by appointing Lenderking, the U.S. is stepping up its diplomatic efforts to end the war in Yemen and by extension the humanitarian catastrophe the war has created. While Lenderking’s appointment is a much-needed step, the “end the Yemen war” discourse championed by Western policy analysts, diplomats, and peace advocates is highly problematic and disconnected from the reality on the ground.
The Riyadh Agreement: Yemen’s new cabinet and what remains to be done
On December 18, Yemeni President Abed Rabbu Mansour Hadi announced a new cabinet as part of his efforts to implement the political annex of the Riyadh Agreement (RA) signed on November 5, 2019 between the Republic of Yemen Government (ROYG) and the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC). The agreement included several political, security and economic provisions such as: the formation of a new government that includes the STC; the disarmament and integration of militias and military formations under the auspices of the ministries of defense and interior; support of the Yemeni economy; and the demilitarization of Aden.
The oldest peer-reviewed publication dedicated to the study of the modern Middle East, MEI’s flagship journal covers politics, society, and culture in the region.
