The Saudi Intervention in Yemen: Struggling for Status

Abstract

On 26 March 2015, Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes on Yemen with the aim to restore the rule of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and destroy the Houthi movement. Scholars and policy analysts moved quickly to examine the Yemen war as a by-product of Saudi-Iranian rivalry in the region and a sectarian struggle. These traditional explanations fall short of unravelling the Saudi motive behind launching a large-scale operation in Yemen, a severely weakened and politically divided neighbour. This paper offers an alternative explanation of abrupt Saudi aggressiveness toward Yemen. It argues that this intervention is driven by a non-material need; Saudi leadership aims to assert the Kingdom's status as a regional power in the Middle East.

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