Yemen’s implosion endangers global trade
ships,” he added, “those weapons originated from Iran.”
With Iranian proxies in the north, Al-Qaeda in the center and separatists in the south, perhaps the greatest threat is the Somalia-style fragmentation of Yemen into multiple failed states and extremist fiefdoms. This could make Yemen a permanent exporter of terrorism, regional instability, piracy and threats to trade.
Recent tensions between President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and the UAE are largely due to security successes in the south fueling separatist aspirations there, which undermines coalition efforts to further progress against the Houthis and Al-Qaeda.
After Russian President Vladimir Putin propped up Bashar Assad’s genocidal regime in Syria and sought to stir the pot in Libya, Moscow now appears inclined toward Iran and former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s camp over Yemen. Saleh has reciprocated with promises of granting Russia military basing rights on the Yemen coast, allowing Moscow to project its power in the Mandab Strait.
Like a slow-motion car accident, Yemen experts have long warned that the country is sliding into the abyss. Yet international responses come too little, too late. The humanitarian ramifications are similarly terrifying.
Last month, the World Food Programme could only afford to feed 3 million out of 7 million Yemenis at risk of starvation; with one child under 5 dying of preventable causes every 10 minutes. “Nowhere on Earth are as many lives at risk.” warned humanitarian coordinator Jan Egeland.
When Donald Trump travels to Saudi Arabia later this month on his first presidential foreign travel, he will get a bird’s-eye view of Yemen’s strategic location in the Arabian Peninsula. He may even catch a glimpse of the narrow and precarious Mandab Strait, and how easily this international trade corridor could be severed. We hope he will be attentive to reasonable arguments about why efforts to block Iranian arms proliferation and restore peace in Yemen are in America’s domestic strategic interest.
There is an ongoing ideological battle over Trump’s foreign policy doctrine, between the isolationist nationalism that he campaigned on, and strategic voices of wisdom such as Defense Secretary James Mattis and National Security Adviser Herbert McMaster, who perceive a strong US role in underpinning international security and guaranteeing open trade routes between friendly nations.
Figures such as Donegan therefore have a window of opportunity to ensure that world leaders recognize that restoring peace in Yemen is not just a pressing humanitarian priority, but a prerequisite for regional geopolitical security, the safe circulation of oil and flourishing international trade. Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate, a foreign editor at Al-Hayat, and has interviewed numerous heads of state.