So that products can be delivered
#39
The Story
The USA and Great Britain secure global trade routes
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US and UK forces have carried out air strikes against Houthi rebel targets in Yemen. Strikes are reported in the capital, Sanaa, the Houthi Red Sea port of Hudaydah, Dhamar and the north-western Houthi stronghold of Saada. "Whatever you think of the Houthis' cause and their justification, we cannot allow them to seek to choke off global trade as a ransom to achieve whatever their political and diplomatic aims are," UK Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said on BBC. He also said the need to defend supply chains is particularly important at a time when disruption from the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have caused inflation around the world. President Joe Biden said he ordered the strikes "in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea." Though the US has carried out strikes against Iranian proxies in Iraq and Syria since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, this marks the first known strike against the Houthis in Yemen.
What preceded the airstrikes?
The Houthis, who are fighting a civil war in Yemen against a coalition backed by Saudi Arabia, have been launching drones and missiles at commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea for weeks, many of which have been intercepted and shot down by US Navy ships in the area.
Details, please
The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, is an Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. The rebel group, backed by Iran, have been executing at least 27 attacks since 19 November 2023 on ships sailing through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. The Houthis have been fighting Yemen's government for about two decades and now control the country's northwest and its capital, Sana. They have built their ideology around opposition to Israel and the United States, seeing themselves as part of the Iranian-led "axis of resistance," along with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Consequences on trade?
The Houthi attacks have a painful impact on world trade. The Suez Canal is one of the world's most popular trade routes, and it is also the fastest and most direct trade link between Asia and Europe, with energy, commodities, componentry, and consumer goods being the chief transportation items. In 2020, about 19,000 ships travelled on this 193 km route, representing 12 per cent of global trade and 30 per cent of global container traffic. The Suez Canal is also a key regional shipping hub for oil and hydrocarbons from Asia and the Middle East to Europe.
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The US and its allies face the challenge of keeping sea lanes open while at the same time not allowing themselves to be drawn too deeply into the regional conflict in the Middle East. The latter is probably what the Houthi rebels want to achieve. Similar to Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis believe that a larger war in the region could serve their goals. So the Biden administration would do well to limit military goals solely to securing sea routes. The administration appears to be aware of the danger.