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Yemen

Military & Security

Politics

The U.S. Biden administration lifted a ban on the sale of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 9.

U.S., Saudi Arabia: U.S. Lifts Ban on Sale of Offensive Weapons to Saudi Arabia

Iraq

Israel

Lebanon

Iranian officials will meet with allies and proxy representatives from Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon to coordinate regional retaliation against Israel's assassinations of top Hezbollah and Hamas leaders on July 30 and 31, as well as against recent U.S. airstrikes on Iraqi militias in Baghdad, Reuters reported on Aug. 1.

Iran, Israel: Iran Orders Strike on Israel in Response to Recent Assassinations

Economics

Yemen's Houthi rebels and the county's internationally backed federal government agreed to stop their tit-for-tat banking sanctions, canceling all recent decisions, in a Saudi-brokered deal, Al Arabiya reported on July 23.

Yemen: Houthis, Yemeni Government To Halt Tit-for-Tat Banking Sanctions

Around 3:10 a.m. local time, a Houthi "Yafa" drone, which Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed was "capable of bypassing interceptor systems and being unable to be detected by radars" exploded in the air on Ben Yehuda Street on the corner of Shalom Aleichem in central Tel Aviv, Israel, killing one bystander and injuring at least 10 more, The Jerusalem Post reported on July 19.

Israel: Houthi-Launched Drone Targets Tel Aviv, Killing One, Injuring at Least 10

Energy

Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the leader of Yemen's Houthi rebels, criticized Saudi Arabia over several issues, including an order in April by the Central Bank of Yemen for banks to move their operations from the Houthi-controlled city of Sanaa to the Saudi-backed federal government's stronghold of Aden, Al-Alam News Network reported on July 7.

Yemen, Saudi Arabia: Houthi Leader Threatens To Attack Saudi Arabia

A Greek-owned coal carrier attacked by a drone boat the week of June 9 by Yemen's Houthi movement has sunk, Reuters reported June 19, citing salvagers.

Yemen: Houthis Sink Second Ship as Insurance Premiums Rise

Somalia

Turkey

The United States is seeking evidence of an alleged arrangement for Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels to potentially supply weapons to al Qaeda affiliate al Shabaab in Somalia, CNN reported on June 11.

Somalia, Yemen: Houthis in Talks To Supply Weapons to Al Shabaab

The United States said some aspects of the U.N.-backed December 2023 agreement to a cease-fire process between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels cannot progress until the Houthis stop their maritime campaign against ships in the Red Sea, Bloomberg reported on June 6.

U.S., Yemen: U.S. Moves To Block Additional Houthi Revenue Sources

Assessments

Syria

People watch a televised speech of Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah commemorating the seventh-century killing of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Imam Hussein, in Beirut, Lebanon, on July 17, 2024.

Israel-Hamas Conflict

Despite their unified vision, groups within the Iranian-led Axis of Resistance are unlikely to sacrifice their strategic imperatives for one another, leaving them vulnerable to Israeli attacks.

Assessing the Strategic Imperatives of the Iranian-Led 'Axis of Resistance'

Palestinian Territories

An Israeli air force Samson C-130J Super Hercules cargo plane flies over the Israeli coastal city of Netanya toward northern Israel on Aug. 25, 2024, after Israel launched airstrikes targeting Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

Israel's recent preemptive strike on Hezbollah reflects an increasing willingness to strike Iran's regional proxies -- and potentially even Iran itself -- to interdict their impending attacks, raising the risk of a larger regional war.

As It Awaits Iran's Retaliation, Israel Mulls More Preemptive Strikes

Snapshots

A giant fire erupts at an oil storage facility following Israeli strikes in Yemen's Houthi-held port city of Hodeida on July 20, 2024. 

Geographical and military limitations will discourage Israel from starting a long-term campaign in Yemen, but increased coordination among pro-Iranian militias could escalate the conflict.

Competing Military Goals and Geographical Constraints Limit Israel's Campaign in Yemen

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on April 29 at a Joint Ministerial Meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council-U.S. Strategic Partnership in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Riyadh will continue to progressively advance diplomatic relations with Israel and deepen defense ties with the United States, while maintaining its cautious outreach to Iran.

Riyadh will continue to progressively advance diplomatic relations with Israel and deepen defense ties with the United States, while maintaining its cautious outreach to Iran.

Assessing Saudi Arabia's Foreign Policy During the Israel-Hamas War and Beyond

Jordan

Iran's large missile and drone attack will prompt an Israeli retaliation that will focus on reestablishing deterrence and preventing future similar attacks on Israel, but in doing so, Israel risks expanding the conflict, further sinking the region into turmoil and possibly dragging in the United States.

U.S.-Iran Relations

How Israel Might Respond to the Iranian Attack

China

India

A map of the waters off the coast of Somalia. A sustained resurgence in Somali piracy would put additional pressure on the global shipping industry, but its impact will likely be limited compared to that seen in the late 2000s.

A sustained resurgence in Somali piracy would put additional pressure on the global shipping industry, but its impact will likely be limited compared to that seen in the late 2000s.

The Implications of Resurging Pirate Attacks off Somalia's Coast

Angola

Cabo Verde

Cote d'Ivoire

Nigeria

Europe

France

Russia

India Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) meets with French President Emmanuel Macron on Dec. 1, 2023, in Dubai.

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: Blinken Visits Africa, Macron Visits India

Guatemala

Taiwan

United Kingdom

Ukraine

Houthis during the capture of an Israel-linked cargo vessel in November 2023 at an unnamed location in the Red Sea.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

The Weekly Rundown: The Possible Houthi Reply to U.S.-U.K. Strikes, Taiwan's General Elections

A Royal Air Force Typhoon aircraft returns to berth following a strike mission on Yemen's Houthi rebels at RAF Akrotiri on Jan. 12, 2024, in Akrotiri, Cyprus. While U.S.-British joint strikes on the Houthis will degrade some of their capabilities, they are highly unlikely to dissuade the Yemeni militant group from continuing to target shipping in the Red Sea.

The strikes will degrade some Houthi capabilities, but are highly unlikely to dissuade the Yemeni militant group from continuing to target shipping in the Red Sea.

What Western Strikes on the Houthis Mean for Yemen and the Region

Bangladesh

An Awami League campaign rally Jan. 4, 2024, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. On Jan. 7, Bangladesh will hold general elections in which the ruling Awami League will seek a fifth term under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's leadership.

Environment, Science & Technology

Social Issues

Science & Technology

The Weekly Rundown: Bangladeshi Elections, Blinken's Latest Middle East Visit

A picture taken on Nov. 22, 2023, shows the Galaxy Leader cargo ship (right), seized by Houthi fighters two days earlier, approaching a port in the Red Sea off Yemen's province of Hodeida. 

Even if the U.S.-led coalition adopts a restrained approach to the ongoing harassment of ships off the coast of Yemen, it would risk escalation and broadening the conflict to Iran.

Can the U.S. and Its Allies Secure the Red Sea From Houthi Attacks?

United Arab Emirates

A grab from handout footage released by Yemen's Huthi Ansarullah Media Center on Nov. 19, 2023, reportedly shows members of the rebel group during the capture of an Israel-linked cargo vessel at an undefined location in the Red Sea. 

The rebel group's escalating harassment of commercial shipping in the region may leave the Biden administration with little choice but to directly strike back at the Iranian proxy.

In the Red Sea, Houthi Attacks Force the U.S. to Mull a Tougher Response

Yemen is located on the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula, across from the Horn of Africa. With Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the east, Yemen’s land borders are largely isolated by the Empty Quarter, a vast, uninhabited desert that stretches through the region. Across the Red Sea, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia are linked to Yemen by trade, religion and culture. From its vantage point on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, Yemen overlooks one of the world’s biggest trade routes.     Yemen has three geographic regions: the northern and western highlands, anchored by the capital Sanaa; the southern coastal harbors around Aden; and the eastern desert of the Hadramawt. For most of its history, the country’s civilization centered on the highlands, where enough rain falls to sustain agriculture. Because they lack oil and mineral resources, Yemen’s highlands are dependent on these farmlands.     Meanwhile coastal harbor cities like Aden survived off trade and piracy, while the desert interior developed a Bedouin trading and raiding culture that siphoned wealth from the two nearby regions. Dwindling water supplies threaten this balance, however, as skyrocketing populations and shifting agricultural practices strain the demographic sustainability of the highlands.     Nearly 20 million of Yemen’s 26.8 million people live in or near the highlands, which envelop and isolate Sanaa. So for outside powers, ports along the Red Sea trade routes of the south tend to make for better targets than the Yemeni capital. Throughout history, states from Rome to Great Britain have tried to capture Aden and its environs. The vulnerability of the city and its southern surroundings to foreign influence and meddling has repeatedly opened rifts between Yemen’s north and south. During these times of tension, the Hadramawt east often slips from the grasp of the central government.     Yemen’s geographic challenges, then, are threefold. First, the country must ward off foreign encroachment on its exposed southern flank. Second, it must find a way to manage its increasingly scarce resources. And third, Sanaa must keep the Hadramawt &mdash; known for its ability to threaten national unity &mdash; under tight control. 

The Yemen Civil War

SITUATION REPORTS

U.S., Saudi Arabia: U.S. Lifts Ban on Sale of Offensive Weapons to Saudi Arabia

Iran, Israel: Iran Orders Strike on Israel in Response to Recent Assassinations

Yemen: Houthis, Yemeni Government To Halt Tit-for-Tat Banking Sanctions

Israel: Houthi-Launched Drone Targets Tel Aviv, Killing One, Injuring at Least 10

Yemen, Saudi Arabia: Houthi Leader Threatens To Attack Saudi Arabia

Yemen: Houthis Sink Second Ship as Insurance Premiums Rise

Somalia, Yemen: Houthis in Talks To Supply Weapons to Al Shabaab

U.S., Yemen: U.S. Moves To Block Additional Houthi Revenue Sources

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