Dear readers,
This week’s Substack covers a rapidly deteriorating situation in Yemen. Iran-backed Houthi rebels have made major advances along the Red Sea coastline, seizing the coast up to the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and prompting Saudi Arabia to shut down its East-West pipeline after a separate drone strike. The offensive has presented another stressor for global energy markets, yet has received little airtime compared to this week’s renewed focus on Ukraine and Trump’s doomed peace process.
This development is the result of the Second Trump administration’s spiraling Iran policy which has neither advanced American interests nor brought peace to the Middle East. With this in mind, I would like to announce a forthcoming essay series for paid subscribers titled “A Stumble in the Gulf”. This series will cover the strategy behind the United States’ ongoing campaign against Iran, the miscalculations and assumptions that led to our current predicament, and the mishandling of inflection points like the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Subscribe to paid membership to receive these essays over the coming weeks.