In August, the Muslim holy city of Mecca lent its name to a mutual defense pact signed by Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and Pakistan. Just weeks later, air-raid sirens were sounding in the same city as missiles and drones launched from Yemen allegedly approached—an interval short enough to expose the distance between the security architecture Saudi… Continue reading What Comes After Bab al-Mandab?

The rapid takeover of Yemen’s entire western coast and major islands in a matter of days by Ansar Allah, widely known as the Houthis, is an alarming though not surprising development. Its most consequential implication is that Iran and its regional allies have strengthened their hold over the Middle East’s two most strategic maritime chokepoints,… Continue reading Bab al-Mandab and Yemen’s Dangerous Moment

Six months of war have left Iran economically battered, its society exhausted, and its politics more conflicted than before. But the country is neither on the verge of collapse, as repeatedly predicted by its adversaries, nor the bastion of unity and stability portrayed by the Islamic Republic itself. The political, economic and social picture inside… Continue reading Iran Is Battered, but Not on the Brink of Collapse