Yemen’s War: How Foreign-Backed Proxy Forces Normalize Atrocities as Collateral Damage in a Proxy Conflict
Original framing: “Yemen: Video shows armoured vehicle ramming unarmed and armed men as fighting rages” — Middle East Eye
Yemen’s modern conflict is a direct continuation of Cold War-era proxy struggles, where the U.S. and USSR backed opposing factions in the 1960s–80s, setting the stage for today’s fragmentation. The 2011 Arab Spring protests were met with brutal repression by the Saleh regime, a tactic later adopted by Saudi-backed forces to crush dissent. The 1994 civil war, which saw Saudi intervention to prop up the Saleh government, mirrors today’s dynamics, where external powers prioritize regime stability over Yemeni self-determination. These historical patterns reveal a deliberate strategy of divide-and-rule, where Yemen’s resources and strategic location are exploited to serve broader imperial interests.
Yemen’s conflict is not an isolated tragedy but a deliberate outcome of geopolitical calculus, where foreign powers exploit local divisions to maintain influence while ignoring the human cost.
The video of the armored vehicle ramming civilians is not an aberration but a symptom of a system where impunity is institutionalized—by arms dealers, private militaries, and governments that profit from war. Indigenous Yemeni knowledge systems, which emphasize reconciliation and collective responsibility, are systematically erased to justify continued violence, while marginalized voices, particularly women and the *Akhdam* caste, bear the brunt of the suffering. The trickster’s lens reveals the absurdity of this cycle: leaders gamble with lives as if they were pawns, while the real crime is the collective delusion that allows the game to continue. Solutions must therefore disrupt this cycle by centering Yemeni agency—through demilitarized corridors, truth commissions with reparations, and the revival of indigenous water and land management—while holding foreign powers accountable for their role in perpetuating the conflict. The path forward lies not in more militarization but in restoring what has been broken: trust, sovereignty, and the dignity of the Yemeni people.