Ari Heistein
Yemen’s Houthis remain the last component of the Iran-backed “axis of resistance” that is willing and able to launch significant attacks on Israel’s heartland. How has this seemingly ragtag group of Yemeni rebels managed to rule 20 million people, intimidate Gulf neighbors, fire continuously on Israel, and disrupt international shipping in the Red Sea? The answer is that they have resourcefully and adaptably exploited ostensible disadvantages in order to promote their regime’s interests.
First, the Houthis’ extremist religious-political movement has managed to garner little public support. The Haqq Party, Husayn al-Houthi’s attempt at national politics in the 1990s, secured less than 1% of the national vote in all of the elections in which it participated. Rather than abandoning their radical vision, the Houthis then focused on building a supremely loyal network of relatives and radical ideologues. This core of the Houthi regime solidified during the Saada Wars (2006-2010), when the Houthis fought a guerrilla war against Yemen’s government; it is no coincidence that most of the regime’s leaders, now in their late 30s to 40s, were in their ideal fighting years during this insurgency, shaping a hardened leadership.
Despite their continued unpopularity, the Houthi regime is sustained by a relatively small collection of loyalists with familial ties and ideological commitment to the group. This “tyranny of the minority” has withstood immense military, economic, and political pressure without major internal fractures or defections. While disputes among leaders have been reported, they have ultimately been resolved in ways that promote regime cohesion and continuity.
No comments:
Post a Comment