Why Saudi Arabia matters more than ever to the US in a volatile Middle East
Fox News
Saudi Arabia is a country undergoing dramatic social, economic, and religious reform, probably more sweeping than any other country in modern times.
Ali Shihabi is a member of the Neom Advisory Board and founder of the Arabia Foundation.
Even a small crack in this order, as evidenced by the Houthis’ hostile actions toward global shipping in the past six months, shows just how much global disruption a revolutionary actor from this region can cause. So far, the Houthis have disrupted shipping lanes in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, caused a massive increase in insurance and freight prices, and saddled the United States and its allies with the conundrum of how to deal with this problem without landing troops to occupy Houthi-controlled Yemen. The Houthi challenge is but a foretaste of what would happen should a responsible status quo power like Saudi Arabia or its Gulf allies be destabilized by a revolutionary power such as Iran or a militia like the Houthis.