The Saudi Intervention in Yemen: Struggling for Status

Darwich, M.

doi:10.25253/99.2018202.08

The Saudi Intervention in Yemen: Struggling for Status

Darwich, M.

Authors

M. Darwich

Abstract

On March 26, 2015, Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes on Yemen with the aim of restoring the rule of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and destroying the Houthi movement. Scholars and policy analysts moved quickly to examine the Yemen war as a sectarian struggle and a byproduct of Saudi-Iranian rivalry in the region. However, these traditional explanations fall short of unravelling the Saudi motive behind launching a large-scale operation in Yemen, its severely weakened and politically divided neighbor. This paper offers an alternative explanation for the 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.

Citation

Darwich, M. (2018). The Saudi Intervention in Yemen: Struggling for Status. Insight Turkey, 20(2), 125-141. https://doi.org/10.25253/99.2018202.08

Journal Article Type	Article
Online Publication Date	Apr 1, 2018
Publication Date	Apr 1, 2018
Deposit Date	Apr 10, 2018
Publicly Available Date	Apr 1, 2019
Journal	Insight Turkey.
Print ISSN	1302-177X
Electronic ISSN	2564-7717
Publisher	Insight Turkey/SETA Vakfi
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	20
Issue	2
Pages	125-141
DOI	https://doi.org/10.25253/99.2018202.08
Publisher URL	https://www.insightturkey.com/article/the-saudi-intervention-in-yemen-struggling-for-status