WorldcrunchAfrah Nasser is a non-resident Fellow at Arab Center Washington DC. She is also a freelance journalist and a human rights defender who previously worked as a researcher at Human Rights Watch, investigating international humanitarian law and human rights law violations and abuses in Yemen, her home country. Nasser is the recipient of many awards, including the Committee to Protect Journalists’ International Press Freedom Award, and her blog has been featured on CNN as one of the top 10 must-read blogs from the Middle East. Nasser has written for and made appearances on numerous news outlets, including Al Jazeera, Al-Monitor, Atlantic Council, and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She holds a BA in English Linguistics from Sana’a University, Yemen and an MA in Communication from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
A decade ago, Saudi Arabia plunged directly into the Yemeni quagmire, launching a military intervention alongside several coalition countries. Everyone expected the battle to be settled in weeks. But it soon became clear, this flash intervention would turn into an endless war, making Yemen a testing ground for broader regional policies and interests.
Whether it is Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, aggressive bullying or hypocritical well wishes, the actual decisions of U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East always follow the same cynical script.
In the Middle East and North Africa, divisions are as stark as they can be. War-torn nations stand side-by-side with wealthy oil-rich countries where the elites feel disconnected from the rest of the region. But, as Yemeni freelance journalist and a human rights defender Afrah Nasser, warns, these inequalities breed monsters, and wealth will not prevent oil-rich countries from experiencing chaos and destruction.
The Houthis took control of Yemen’s capital Sanaa a decade ago in a religious coup masquerading as a revolution. Yet the Houthis have begun to speak more openly and boldly about their vision for the future of Yemen — and in doing so, may have planted the seeds of their defeat, exiled Yemeni journalist Afrah Nasser writes.
Many people, especially in the Arab region, hailed the Houthis’ attacks against Israel. But what they may not know is that Yemeni people have been caught in the crossfire.