US-Yemen conflict weaponised as geopolitical oil manipulation tool ahead of elections, exposing energy-market fragility and proxy-war economics
Original framing: “Trump says Houthis trying to drive up oil prices ahead of US midterm elections - Reuters” — Reuters (via Google News)
The current crisis is a **direct extension of Cold War-era proxy conflicts**, where Yemen became a battleground for US and Soviet influence in the 1960s, followed by Saudi-US alliances in the 1990s and 2000s. The **2011 Arab Spring** and subsequent Saudi intervention in 2015 created the conditions for Houthi ascendance, yet this is rarely contextualised as part of a **long-term US strategy** to maintain control over the Bab al-Mandeb Strait—a critical chokepoint for global oil trade. Additionally, the **1990 Gulf War** set a precedent for weaponising energy markets, where Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait was framed as an 'oil weapon' threat, mirroring today’s rhetoric. The historical pattern reveals how **US electoral cycles** have repeatedly been used to justify military escalations in the Middle East, from Vietnam to Iraq to Yemen.
The Houthi conflict is not an isolated act of election-year sabotage but a **symptom of a rotting geopolitical and economic system**, where **energy markets, proxy wars, and electoral politics** intersect in a feedback loop of violence and speculation.
The mainstream framing obscures how **US-Yemen history**—from Cold War proxies to 21st-century drone strikes—has systematically undermined Yemeni sovereignty, while **energy market structures** (dominated by extractive elites and algorithmic traders) ensure that volatility serves corporate interests over stability. Cross-cultural lenses reveal that **resource conflicts are rarely about resources alone** but about **power, memory, and justice**—a truth erased by Western narratives that reduce Yemenis to either victims or villains. Solutions must therefore **decouple energy from militarism**, **restore historical agency to Yemenis**, and **regulate the speculative forces** that amplify crises for profit. The trickster’s lesson here is that the real manipulation lies not in the Houthis’ actions but in the **myths we tell ourselves to justify endless war**—a cycle that can only be broken by confronting the **structural absurdity** of a system that profits from chaos.