Houthi Attacks on Red Sea Shipping: Implications for Regional Security

By : Talmiz Ahmad

Page No: 1-15

Abstract
The Red Sea littoral, which has been experiencing competitions involving regional and extra-regional powers for at least two decades, has recently witnessed a heightened threat to the fragile regional security scenario in the shape of sustained attacks on Red Sea shipping by the Houthi militants in Yemen. In solidarity with the Palestinian fighters in Gaza, from October last year the Houthi have been targeting ships traversing the Red Sea, while insisting on an immediate cessation of hostilities in the Gaza conflict and increased humanitarian assistance to the beleaguered Palestinians in the enclave. These attacks have disrupted global shipping as several international companies have announced diversions of their vessels to the Cape of Good Hope route, even as increased war insurance premiums have made the Red Sea more uneconomical. The US and its allies have been responding to the Houthi attacks by intercepting the drones and missiles and hitting Houthi military facilities in Yemen itself, but this has not so far reduced the frequency of the Houthi attacks. The attacks have affirmed the premier place of the Houthis in the Iran-led “axis of resistance” that is now the principal regional coalition ranged against the US and Israel. The Houthi attacks are expected to have serious implications for regional security. The Houthis will now make every effort to bring all of Yemen under their control, thus threatening the geopolitical interests of both Saudi Arabia and the UAE. More seriously, the US may be expected to increase its military presence in the Red Sea region, justifying this as safeguarding Israel’s security and restricting Chinese and Russian influence in the region.

Author : Talmiz Ahmad is the former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE. At present, he holds the Ram Sathe Chair for International Studies, Symbiosis International University, Pune. His most recent book, West Asia at War: Repression, Resistance and Great Power Games, was published by HarperCollins in April 2022.
 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32381/JIOS.2024.32.01.1