Why Saudi Arabia failed to defeat the Houthis – and could now be dragged back into war - opinion

Saudi Arabia is preparing for another military round against the Houthis, but a decade of strategic miscalculations has left it isolated. The article argues that Riyadh's flawed alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood, premature ceasefire, and attacks on UAE-backed southern forces alienated its most effective partners. It recommends embracing a non-Islamist South Yemen and Somaliland as a buffer and confronting Iran directly.

Saudi Arabia is preparing for another military round against the Houthis along the Yemeni border, but the article argues that Riyadh's decade-long strategic failures have left it isolated and without effective partners. The author, Tina Ghazimorad, contends that Saudi Arabia lost the war in Yemen not because the Houthis are invincible, but because of a series of miscalculations: a flawed alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood's Islah Party, a premature ceasefire that legitimized the Houthis, and a decision to attack UAE-backed southern forces out of fear of an independent South Yemen. The article highlights that the UAE and southern fighters were the only forces that delivered meaningful battlefield gains, and that Riyadh alienated them. It also notes that Israeli and American strikes degraded Houthi infrastructure, creating a window of opportunity that Saudi Arabia failed to exploit. The author recommends that Saudi Arabia abandon its historical anxiety about a sovereign South Yemen and instead embrace a non-Islamist South Yemen and Somaliland as a strategic buffer, while confronting Iran directly. The piece is an opinion column that frames the conflict in terms of strategic choices and psychological barriers.