AI Summary
5 min readIn early 2025, a militia group that had been largely frozen out of headlines for years suddenly seized a port city, an island in a strategic waterway, and struck a major Saudi oil pipeline. The Houthis, an Iran-backed Shia militia from Yemen, had made their most significant territorial gains since the civil war began in 2014. The advance was less a testament to their own strength, however, than to the stunning disorganization of their opponents. Fighters on the anti-Houthi side were selling their weapons by the side of the road and retreating, while rival commanders blamed each other for betrayal. The episode reveals how a stalemated war can suddenly shift, and how a regional conflict can ripple into global oil markets and the wider confrontation between America and Iran.
The collapse of a fragile coalition
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What you'll learn
- 1 (01:52) **Houthis' Striking Advance** - The Houthis have captured the port city of Mocha and Perim Island in Bab el-Mandeb, a major shift in Yemen's war.
- 2 (02:57) **How the Stalemate Broke** - The civil war has been frozen since a 2022 ceasefire, but the dynamic changed when America and Israel went to war with Iran.
- 3 (04:37) **The Disarray of the Anti-Houthi Coalition** - The Saudi-led coalition was caught off guard because its allies in Yemen are deeply disorganized and divided.
- 4 (06:09) **The Search for Outside Help** - The Saudis are asking for foreign support, but it is not clear where it will come from.
- 5 (07:18) **The Houthis' Next Targets** - The Houthis are not done; they are also pushing for Marib province, home to Yemen's oil industry.
- 6 (07:48) **Pressure on the Oil Market** - The Houthi advance has two major consequences for oil prices.
- 7 (08:57) **Where This Ends** - The advance is a significant escalation, but it may not be permanent for the Houthis.
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Show Notes
After years of stalemate, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis are taking territory, including on a Red Sea strait. We ask what has changed, and how the shift fits into the wider regional conflict. As America’s midterm elections approach, we examine the fragmentation of the coalition that put Donald Trump back in office. And we ask how much nepotism matters in Hollywood today.
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