It has been recently reported that the United States is contemplating military strikes on Yemen. The southern part of the country, dominated by the Yemeni resistance has sought to confront Israeli shipping in retaliation for the unprecedented killing of Palestinians in the Gaza strip. The US has responded by organizing a coalition of countries to try to keep the route through the Red Sea open but shows no contemplation for its past mistakes in the region with the interest in attempting to bomb the besieged nation. 

Underneath it all, however, lies a critical strategic interest. Western domination of the geographic space known as the “Gulf of Aden” is their true intention, as it has been for centuries, which is why to that extent they have also permitted unassailable violence in the Arab nation to prop up the government they support against the will of its own population. The area of interest is known as “The Gulf of Aden.” This gulf is one of the most critical junctures in the world, for it is a passage between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, of which through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, connects to the Mediterranean and the Euro-Atlantic regions.

The hegemony of the United States and its allies rests on being able to pursue unparalleled military dominance across the whole planet, of which further involves controlling all of the world’s key waterways and straits. The US calls this mode of naval dominance “freedom of navigation” and the right to “sail anywhere they wish” primarily because such a norm favors America’s presence of military operations worldwide, and to this end, another power struggle is taking place with China over the South China Sea and Taiwan Straits in the Pacific. 

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However, the Gulf of Aden is another critical location. It is one which has been fostered by British Imperialism, with Britain having held control of Yemen and Oman, and in turn constructing the Suez Canal through Egypt. By doing this, they created one of the world’s most important shipping routes which has allowed maritime trade to bypass navigating Africa and immensely reduced journey time, allowing greater power projection from the west into Asia and hegemonic control of all Europe-bound trade flows. As the above paragraph notes, this standoff comes at a significant moment as the West has earmarked its goal as the domination of the “Indo-Pacific” to contain the rise of China. However, without control of the Gulf of Aden, this is increasingly difficult to achieve.

As a result, the Yemeni Armed Forces pose a strategic challenge to the West by occupying the critical space of the gulf adjacent to the Red Sea which has subsequently been used to isolate Israeli foreign trade in retaliation to its crimes in the Gaza Strip. As this poses a larger challenge to American interests, Washington is poised to respond in a given way. However, this is a bad choice for the US on a number of counts. First of all, even not considering the situation with the Israelis, another American intervention in the Middle East would be a strategic and military disaster that would be leading the US into backing a third conflict, and one that would again provoke outrage across the global south.

Then, secondly, there is no guarantee the US would win such a struggle. Ansar Allah has already faced overwhelming bombardment by the US-backed Gulf States using its own military objection at a severe humanitarian cost to the country. What makes Washington think more of the same would be different? As seen in other countries, such force cannot turn away the popular resentment in the grassroots which drives such resistance against it. The wًestern-backed government of Yemen lacks legitimacy and popularity, which is what has made it impossible for it to restore its authority over the south of the country but has also led to an uprising against it. 

Thus, it would be catastrophic for the US to take this path and would do no favors, which will only sap away and deter from its wider objectives and demonstrate that the White House is committed to unrelenting war all over the world. If on the other hand, America wants to stop attacks on Israeli shipping, then it would be better advised to call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and end its backing of Tel Aviv’s unprecedented destruction and disregard for human life. This factor, and this alone, is the primary root of all instability and turmoil within the region. To bomb an already impoverished Yemen is a cruel, inhumane, and self-defeating act.