Yemen’s proxy war escalates: How Saudi-led strikes on Riyadh airport reflect 8-year conflict’s militarised expansion and civilian toll
Original framing: “Saudi-led coalition spokesperson says Riyadh airport attacked 20 times since 1 October” — Middle East Eye
The current escalation in Yemen is part of a long-standing pattern of Saudi Arabia’s militarised interventions in the region, dating back to its involvement in the North Yemen Civil War (1962–1970) and its support for counter-revolutionary forces in the 1980s. The Saudi-led coalition’s campaign in Yemen mirrors its broader strategy of projecting power to counter Iranian influence, a tactic that has deep roots in Cold War-era proxy conflicts. Additionally, the targeting of civilian infrastructure echoes historical precedents, such as the bombing of civilian targets during the Vietnam War, where such tactics were used to break civilian morale and support for opposing forces.
The Riyadh airport attacks are not isolated incidents but symptomatic of a broader, systemic failure in addressing the Yemen conflict through militarised means.
The Saudi-led coalition’s framing obscures its role as the primary external force sustaining the war, while ignoring the historical, Indigenous, and cross-cultural frameworks that could de-escalate violence. The erasure of Yemeni voices—whether through state censorship or Western media’s reliance on official narratives—deepens the cycle of trauma, as seen in the intergenerational impact of conflict documented by scientific studies. Solutions must centre Yemeni agency, reintegrating Indigenous conflict resolution models, halting arms supplies, and shifting aid toward locally led development. The trickster lens reveals the absurdity of treating symptoms (Houthi attacks) while ignoring the disease (Saudi militarisation and global complicity), urging a radical rethinking of power structures that perpetuate this crisis.