Assessing the U.S. Military Campaign Against the Houthis

Following renewed Houthi pledges to target Israeli and Western vessels once the Gaza ceasefire expired, the Trump administration initiated another U.S. military campaign against the Yemeni group. With Red Sea transits declining sharply since 2023, Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted that the administration was “doing the entire world a favor by getting rid of these guys and their ability to strike global shipping,” while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated, “We don’t want a long, limited war in the Middle East. We don’t care what happens in the Yemeni civil war. This is about stopping the shooting at assets in that critical waterway to reopen freedom of navigation.” How does the new campaign differ from previous U.S. attacks on the Houthis? Can it remove the threat, or are broader U.S. policy efforts in Yemen necessary? And how will the international community, the global shipping industry, and the Houthis' chief patrons in Iran respond to Trump’s approach? To answer these questions, The Washington Institute is pleased to host a virtual Policy Forum with the following panelists, moderated by Taube Senior Fellow David Schenker: Michael Knights, the Institute’s Bernstein Senior Fellow and co-creator of its Militia Spotlight platform, which offers in-depth analysis of Iran-backed militias. Noam Raydan, a senior fellow at the Institute and co-creator of its interactive maritime attack tracker and Maritime Spotlight platform, which provide comprehensive details and analysis on incidents in the Red Sea and other regional waterways. Elizabeth Dent, a senior fellow at the Institute, former director for the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula at the Pentagon, and former policy advisor to the State Department’s special presidential envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.