The war in Yemen has dragged on for nearly a decade. Despite thousands of airstrikes, military operations, shifting alliances and failed international peace initiatives, the conflict remains unresolved. It is fragmented and dangerously misunderstood, according to an opinion published by Fair Observer.com
Abdul Galil Shaif , the author of the opinion found that “Most global attention focuses on headline events: missile launches in the Red Sea and Israel, drone attacks and the strategic calculus behind US and Israeli airstrikes. But to understand Yemen’s crisis and create a path out of it, the world must move beyond military tactics and grasp the deeper forces driving this dangerous conflict”.
He added that since the Arab coalition’s military intervention in 2015, and more recently with US-led strikes against the Houthis and Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure, efforts to contain or weaken the Houthis by force have continued. These efforts have failed to produce the intended outcomes. The Houthis, supported by the Iranian regime, remain deeply entrenched, especially across northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa.
Shaif concluded that the international community must change its strategy. Targeted pressure through sanctions and limited military measures can play a role, but pressure without a political roadmap will fail. It will not bring the Houthis to the negotiating table. It will push them into isolation.
Foreign powers need a political formula that weakens the Houthis enough to make negotiation possible and recognizes Yemen’s new realities. This war is no longer a two-sided conflict. It has multiple centers of power. Each center has its own legitimacy, audience and military strength.