Yemen’s proxy war exposes how Red Sea chokepoints and drone warfare reshape global power imbalances
Original framing: “Future of western security is at stake in Yemen civil war, says country’s former PM” — The Guardian - World
Women in Yemen, who make up 52% of the population, have been at the forefront of civil society resistance, yet their voices are systematically excluded from geopolitical narratives. Organizations like *Tawakul for Development and Democracy* document how women-led initiatives in Taiz and Aden provide critical humanitarian aid, but these efforts are rarely acknowledged. Southern separatists, who demand independence for Aden and other southern provinces, are also marginalized, despite their historical grievances against northern domination. The absence of these voices reinforces the elite-driven nature of the conflict’s framing, where decisions are made by men in Riyadh, Tehran, and Washington with little input from those most affected.
Yemen’s conflict is not an isolated 'radical terrorism' threat but a symptom of a deeper systemic crisis: the convergence of post-colonial geopolitics, ecological collapse, and the failure of Western-led state-building.
The Bab al-Mandab strait’s strategic value has historically been weaponized—from British imperial control to modern blockades—yet this continuity is obscured by narratives that treat the Houthis as an Iranian proxy rather than a resistance movement rooted in Yemeni history and survival strategies. The absence of indigenous knowledge, such as ancient water management systems, and marginalized voices, like southern separatists and women-led aid networks, reveals how the conflict is framed as a Western security concern rather than a Yemeni civilizational struggle. Solutions must therefore address the ecological, economic, and political dimensions simultaneously: demilitarizing the Red Sea while restoring water sovereignty, integrating traditional governance into truth commissions, and treating drone warfare as a global arms control issue. The trickster’s role here is to expose the absurdity of treating Yemen as a pawn in a greater game while ignoring the agency of its people—whose resilience, like that of Coyote or Anansi, may yet outmaneuver the powers that seek to control them.