This project engages in a critical inquiry into the military intervention in Yemen that began in 2015, and the current politics that surround the Red Sea crisis that developed in October 2023. Who are Ansar Allah, why were they the target of an illegal bombing campaign and how do both matters relate to the crisis in the Red Sea and the situation in Gaza? The endeavour is to foster research interest in the topic among undergraduates, graduates, post-doctoral researchers and visiting scholars, to develop an interdisciplinary approach to the themes and problematics identified, and to expand and refine them. It aspires to contribute to the network of national and international researchers, and particularly to engage those who are Yemeni or who live in Yemen, who are working on the complexities of the situation in Yemen and the region by bringing to bear on the existing literature different perspectives on a situation that requires urgent analytical, political and humanitarian attention.

The objectives of this multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research are to produce a broad as well as deep analysis of the conditions that gave rise to the US-backed Saudi-UAE-led military intervention in Yemen in 2015 and to Ansar Allah’s blockade of the Red Sea as of late 2023, and to discern any connection between the two events. What is the history of the Houthis? What were the conditions that gave rise to their movement in the 1990s and their goal of taking over the state? What is their ideology and mission, and what is the significance of Palestine/Palestinians in their thinking or worldview? What would possess a government in a poverty-stricken country already in the midst of a brutal conflict, and that is the target of an extremely well-equipped coalition to take on the US and Israel through the group’s actions in the Red Sea? If Ansar Allah are not proxies of Iran, as the reigning discourse and official line hold, in what capacity is the group connected to the Iranian government, its regional strategy, and its ideology?

Four years prior to the US-backed Saudi-UAE-led bombing campaign in Yemen, the world had been celebrating Yemen for its peaceful uprising and ousting of the authoritarian leader, Saleh, who had ruled the country for over three decades. Yemen’s transition process (2012-14) was proclaimed by international governments and organizations to be exemplary, its instituted process of dialogue to be impressively inclusive, and the outcomes of the dialogue conference to be quite progressive. Yet, in late 2014, in alliance with the former President and longtime adversary, Ansar Allah then took over the capital, pre-empted the finalization of a new Constitution, and instituted their own Constitution. After having fled Sana’a (the capital) for Aden (in the south) and then Saudi Arabia, interim President Hadi requested assistance from the Gulf states to neutralize Ansar Allah forces. Weeks later, an illegal intervention, Operation Decisive Storm (soon renamed Operation Restoring Hope), began, without explicit UN endorsement, that targeted civilians and threw millions of Yemenis into a state of starvation or severe food insecurity. As of 2021, over 375,000 Yemeni deaths have occurred from coalition strikes, the lack of food, or the absence of health care.

Eight years later, Hamas launched an attack inside Israel against Israeli civilians, the retaliation by the Israeli government against the people of Gaza acquiring the scale and strategy of genocide. In an attempt to pressure the Netanyahu government of Israel to declare a ceasefire, the Sana’a government (then called the National Salvation Government) began a naval blockade in the Red Sea, preventing any Israeli-associated or Israel-destined ships from continuing their journey. With no ceasefire occurring, attacks by Ansar Allah on British and US military vessels in the Red Sea and later on Israeli territory have resulted in retaliatory air strikes by the US and Israel. The situation looks poised for another foreign military intervention into Yemen, this time led by the US.

This project engages in a critical inquiry into the military intervention in Yemen that began in 2015, and the current politics that surround the Red Sea crisis that developed in October 2023. It seeks to foster research interest in the topic among undergraduates, graduates, post-doctoral researchers and visiting scholars, to develop an interdisciplinary approach to the themes and problematics identified, and to expand and refine them. It aspires to contribute to the network of national and international researchers, and particularly to engage those who are Yemeni or who live in Yemen, who are working on the complexities of the situation in Yemen and the region by bringing to bear on the existing literature different perspectives on a situation that requires urgent analytical, political and humanitarian attention.

The objectives of this multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research are to produce a broad as well as deep analysis of the conditions that gave rise to the US-backed Saudi-UAE-led military intervention in Yemen in 2015 and to Ansar Allah’s blockade of the Red Sea as of late 2023, and to discern any connection between the two events. What is the history of the Houthis? What were the conditions that gave rise to their movement in the 1990s and their goal of taking over the state? What is their ideology and mission, and what is the significance of Palestine/Palestinians in their thinking or worldview? What would possess a government in a poverty-stricken country already in the midst of a brutal conflict, and that is the target of an extremely well-equipped coalition to take on the US and Israel through the group’s actions in the Red Sea? If Ansar Allah are not proxies of Iran, as the reigning discourse and official line hold, in what capacity is the group connected to the Iranian government, its regional strategy, and its ideology?

Four years prior to the US-backed Saudi-UAE-led bombing campaign in Yemen, the world had been celebrating Yemen for its peaceful uprising and ousting of the authoritarian leader, Saleh, who had ruled the country for over three decades. Yemen’s transition process (2012-14) was proclaimed by international governments and organizations to be exemplary, its instituted process of dialogue to be impressively inclusive, and the outcomes of the dialogue conference to be quite progressive.

Political analysts have underlined the interests of Saudi Arabia, the GCC, the US and traditional power elites in the directing of the transition process, and the exclusion of the southern group, Hirak, and the northern Houthi movement, from the process as being fundamental to the outbreak of civil war in 2014-15. With regime rollover having been the goal and the accomplishment by mid-2014, the Houthi movement, or Ansar Allah, in alliance with their longtime adversary, Saleh, sought control of the state and, for Ansar Allah, the exlusion of external political interference in Yemen.

In late 2014, this alliance took over the capital, pre-empted the finalization of a new Constitution, and instituted their own Constitution. After having fled Sana’a (the capital) for Aden (in the south) and then Saudi Arabia, interim President Hadi requested assistance from the Gulf states to neutralize Ansar Allah forces. Weeks later, an illegal intervention, Operation Decisive Storm (soon renamed Operation Restoring Hope), began, without explicit UN endorsement, that targeted civilians and threw millions of Yemenis into a state of starvation or severe food insecurity. As of 2021, over 375,000 Yemeni deaths have occurred from coalition strikes, the lack of food, or the absence of health care.

In 2023, Hamas launched an attack inside Israel against Israeli civilians, the retaliation by the Israeli government against the people of Gaza acquiring the scale and strategy of genocide. In an attempt to pressure the Netanyahu government of Israel to declare a ceasefire, the Sana’a government (then called the National Salvation Government) began a naval blockade in the Red Sea, preventing any Israeli-associated or Israel-destined ships from continuing their journey. With no ceasefire occurring, attacks by Ansar Allah on British and US military vessels in the Red Sea and later on Israeli territory have resulted in retaliatory air strikes by the US and Israel. The situation looks poised for another foreign military intervention into Yemen, this time led by the US.

The objectives of this multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research are to produce a broad as well as deep analysis of the conditions that gave rise to the US-backed Saudi-UAE-led military intervention in Yemen in 2015 and to Ansar Allah’s blockade of the Red Sea as of late 2023, and to discern any connection between the two events. What is the history of the Houthis? What were the conditions that gave rise to their movement in the 1990s and their goal of taking over the state? What is their ideology and mission, and what is the significance of Palestine/Palestinians in their thinking or worldview? What would possess a government in a poverty-stricken country already in the midst of a brutal conflict, and that is the target of an extremely well-equipped coalition to take on the US and Israel through blockades and military strikes in the Red Sea? If Ansar Allah are not proxies of Iran, as the reigning discourse and official line hold, in what capacity is this entity connected to the Iranian government, its regional strategy, and its ideology?

Related themes of this project include illegal military intervention, starvation as a weapon of war, rejection of foreign interference, political and economic resistance, resistance, revolution, authoritarianism, US imperialism, resource extraction, geostrategic control, regional hegemony, Saudi insecurity, Iranian power, UAE maritime ambitions, Gaza crisis, political Islam, the fragmentation and foreign domination of Yemen.