Charles Schmitz
Non-Resident Scholar
Last week, President Joe Biden declared the end of U.S. support for “offensive operations” in Yemen, renewed U.S. support for U.N. efforts for a cease-fire and political settlement of the war, and appointed a special envoy to Yemen, while U.N. Special Envoy Martin Griffiths made his first official visit to Tehran over the weekend. Changing course, winding down the war, imposing a cease-fire, and negotiating a political settlement sound nice, but what exactly is Plan B, the Biden Plan?
Plan A was the American-Saudi-Emirati air and ground campaign in support of Yemeni opposition aimed at dislodging the Houthis from Sanaa in accordance with U.N. Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR) 2201 and 2216. The war failed spectacularly. In fact, it consolidated Houthi control over the populated western highlands of Yemen in part because Yemenis rallied around the principled defense of national sovereignty even if they weren’t fond of the Houthis and in part because the American-Arab coalition fought amongst itself more often than against the Houthis.