The Political Strategy of Ansar Allah.
This project seeks to ascertain what Ansar Allah seek politically and ideologically. What are their ideology and long-term regional strategy, and how aligned are the two? What is the role of Iran in this regard and how have the collapse of the Assad regime and the weakening of Hezbollah informed their current perspective? How committed are they to the prosperity of the Yemeni people they govern and in whose name they claim to be fighting? How is their authoritarian approach to governance to be reconciled with their claim to be protecting Yemenis and sustaining anti-imperialist policies? To what degree did the ongoing military intervention by the US-backed Saudi-led coalition provoke their authoritarian mode of rule? The US began a separate military campaign in Yemen, despite the catastrophic devastation to infrastructure and human welfare. How justified was this move given the social, material and economic crisis Yemenis will endure for decades to come due to the Coalition’s devastating bombing mission? How justified was it given the purpose of the blockade in the Red Sea - to pressure the Israeli government to call a ceasefire in Gaza - when governments around the world did virtually nothing to stop the genocide of Palestinians?

The Political Strategy of Ansar Allah.
Ansar Allah, i.e., the Houthis. From where did they come and why did they try to take over the state? What did they possess, represent or achieve that, in 2015, made them so critical a target that a bombing campaign by a US-backed Saudi-UAE-led coalition against a deeply poverty-stricken country was considered justifiable? What magnitude of threat did they exude that warranted the weaponized starvation of millions of people and the shelling of civilians, agriculture, infrastructure, schools, hospitals, weddings and funerals? The dominant accounts often start with Ansar Allah's illegal takeover of the Yemeni state in 2014 and work on assumption that they were, since the early 2000s, acting as an Iranian military proxy. Ansar Allah’s actions typically are explained by appeals to the ideas of fanatical sectarianism, anti-modernist reactionary politics, and anti-irridentist animosity towards Saudi Arabia. From an increasingly powerful if contrasting perspective, Ansar Allah is viewed in sympathetic or heroic terms: as a group of sandal-clad mountain fighters standing their ground against a corrupt and internationally supported authoritarian Yemeni state and against US imperialism in Yemen and Israeli occupation of Palestine. (Northern) Yemen’s regime based in Sana’a is a coalition government controlled by Ansar Allah.

In October 2023, the Sana'a government began a blockade of ships in the Red Sea that were linked to, or destined for, Israel. This was in response to the proportionately overwhelming military retaliation by the Netanyahu regime to the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel earlier that month that quickly reached genocidal proportions and revealed a genocidal strategy. Yemen's objective was to pressure Israel into calling a ceasefire in Gaza. The situation escalated, Israel and Yemen exchanged missile attacks, and the US navy began missile strikes in retaliation to those by Sana'a against US military vessels operating in the allied service of the Israeli government. Historically pro-Palestinian, Arab populations – notwithstanding the complacency by Arab governments toward the genocide of Palestinians – are highly supportive of the anti-imperialist, anti-US-Israeli foreign policy of Ansar Allah and their current military actions in the Red Sea. Ansar Allah appears to be the only political group in the region that are seriously acting to prevent the deaths of Palestinians.

This project seeks to ascertain what Ansar Allah seek politically and ideologically. What are their ideology and long-term regional strategy, and how aligned are the two? What is the role of Iran in this regard and how have the collapse of the Assad regime and the weakening of Hezbollah informed their current perspective? How committed are they to the prosperity of the Yemeni people they govern and in whose name they claim to be fighting? How is their authoritarian approach to governance to be reconciled with their claim to be protecting Yemenis and sustaining anti-imperialist policies? To what degree did the ongoing military intervention by the US-backed Saudi-led coalition provoke their authoritarian mode of rule? The US began a separate military campaign in Yemen, despite the catastrophic devastation to infrastructure and human welfare. How justified was this move given the social, material and economic crisis Yemenis will endure for decades to come due to the Coalition’s devastating bombing mission? How justified was it given the purpose of the blockade in the Red Sea - to pressure the Israeli government to call a ceasefire in Gaza - when governments around the world did virtually nothing to stop the genocide of Palestinians?

The proposed study focuses on the emergence of the Houthi movement in Yemen, known officially as Ansar Allah. Assuming that the developments in the Middle East/West Asia tied to Ansar Allah’s position toward the Israeli genocide in Gaza will produce profound effects far beyond the foreseeable future, I contend that the current situation cannot adequately be understood or addressed without apprehending what took place in the far northern governorate of Yemen during the 1990s to 2010 (the year before the Youth Revolution in Yemen that was part of the wider movement the west calls the Arab Spring). Also critical to analyzing the current situation is a grasp on the profound implications the 1962 defeat of the Zaydi Imamate have had on the politics and ideology of Ansar Allah’s domestic policies, given that Ansar Allah's ideology is informed by Zaydism and Zaydi elites populate Ansar Allah. What is their vision of how Yemen’s north should be socio-religiously constituted and politically ruled? How is this related -- or not -- to the kind of theocracy in Iran?

The proposed study focuses on the emergence of the Houthi movement in Yemen. Known officially as Ansar Allah and currently in control of the de facto government (in Sana'a) of northern Yemen, the regime exploded into the world’s consciousness in November 2023 when it created naval blockades and engaged in acts of military aggression in the Red Sea against vessels that were connected to Israel or proceeding (despite warnings) toward Israeli ports. The purpose of the action was to pressure the Netanyahu government to institute a ceasefire in Gaza. Prior to that event, Ansar Allah had attracted regional attention as the target of the US-backed Saudi-led coalition that illegally intervened in Yemen in 2015 and had begun a military and starvation campaign.

Assuming that the developments in the Middle East/West Asia tied to Ansar Allah’s position toward the Israeli genocide in Gaza will produce profound effects far beyond the foreseeable future, I contend that the current situation cannot adequately be understood or addressed without apprehending what took place in the far northern governorate of Yemen during the 1990s to 2010 (the year before the Youth Revolution in Yemen that was part of the wider movement the west calls the Arab Spring). Also critical to analyzing the current situation is a grasp on the profound implications the 1962 defeat of the Zaydi Imamate have had on the politics and ideology of Ansar Allah’s domestic policies, given that Ansar Allah's ideology is informed by Zaydism and Zaydi elites populate Ansar Allah. What is their vision of how Yemen’s north should be socio-religiously constituted and politically ruled? How is this related -- or not -- to the kind of theocracy in Iran?

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.