Description
States continue to execute military interventions in civil war settings. The military intervention of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, along with its allies, in the civil war in Yemen constitutes one recent example. On the other hand, military interventions rarely achieve the strategic objectives they are initially expected to fulfil, and frequently culminate in intervention failures. This chapter presents a critical analysis of the military intervention of Saudi Arabia in the civil war in Yemen that lasted for seven years. It is argued that Saudi military intervention in Yemen could not deliver the strategic objectives devised and declared by the Saudi leadership, and accordingly, constitutes another case of intervention failure. In this chapter, first, a general overview of the causes of intervention failure in international affairs is presented. Second, the strategic objectives pursued by the Saudi leadership in its military intervention in Yemen are discussed, the paramount of which was the elimination of the perceived threat posed by the militant group known as the Houthis. Third, the extent to which Saudi Arabia has achieved its declared objectives through the military intervention is assessed, and it is asserted that there exists substantial discrepancy between the objectives of the intervention and its eventual outcomes. Fourth, arguing that Saudi military intervention in Yemen represents a case of intervention failure, the underlying causes of this failure are investigated. The underlying causes are classified into four distinct sets as related to Saudi Arabia, to Yemen, to the regional context, and to the international context.
