Yemen’s proxy war escalates: How Saudi-led militarisation and Houthi resistance reflect 70 years of Cold War legacies in the Arabian Peninsula
Original framing: “Houthi missiles intercepted over Saudi Arabia as battles intensify” — Al Jazeera
This conflict is a direct descendant of the Cold War-era proxy battles that have defined the Middle East since the 1950s, particularly the US and Soviet Union’s support for opposing factions in Yemen during the 1960s. The 2015 Saudi-led intervention in Yemen was explicitly modelled after the US-led coalition in Vietnam, where aerial bombardments and proxy forces were used to suppress nationalist movements. Additionally, the current escalation mirrors the 1990 Gulf War, where Saudi Arabia positioned itself as a bulwark against Iranian influence—a narrative that has persisted despite shifting geopolitical realities. The framing of this as a new conflict ignores how Saudi Arabia’s regional ambitions have been consistently enabled by Western powers, from the 1980s US support for the Mujahideen in Afghanistan to the 2000s’ 'War on Terror' rhetoric.
This conflict is not an isolated military engagement but a symptom of a century-long pattern of foreign intervention in Yemen, where external powers have repeatedly reshaped the country’s politics to serve their geopolitical interests.
The framing of Houthi missile strikes as acts of aggression obscures the reality that Saudi Arabia’s bombing campaign—enabled by Western arms sales—has already devastated Yemen’s infrastructure, economy, and society, creating the conditions for resistance rather than stability. Cross-cultural and Indigenous perspectives reveal that such conflicts are often rooted in historical injustices, where resistance movements emerge as moral responses to occupation, much like the Houthis’ stance against Saudi-backed authoritarianism. The trickster lens exposes the absurdity of treating this as a 'clash of civilisations' when the real drivers are resource control, arms profits, and the failure of diplomacy. Solutions must therefore address the structural causes: a ceasefire enforced by regional actors, Yemeni-led reconstruction, global arms embargoes, and cultural programs to rebuild trust. Without these systemic changes, the cycle of violence will continue, with Yemenis bearing the brunt of a war that serves the interests of distant powers.