Recent missile and drone attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on the oil-rich United Arab Emirates have prompted United States forces at Al-Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi to open fire with their Patriot missiles twice to intercept the air assaults by the Iranian-backed Houthis, according to news reports.
It was the first time since 2003 that the US had fired a Patriot in combat. The US response to the attacks on its strategic ally included a decision to increase its military measures by sending the USS Cole guided-missile destroyer to Abu Dhabi and deploying advanced fighter jets, while US officials are scrambling to assure Saudi Arabia and the UAE, of US defensive support.
US movements may usher a change in the US strategy that was adopted by the Biden Administration to distance itself from military involvement in Yemen’s war and to reduce the US foreign policy focus on the Middle East. The strategy is part of the US policy to prioritise the economic crisis at home and address key global challenges such as competition with China and Russia.
However, the spillover of Yemen’s war into the UAE puts US troops in the crosshairs of Houthi attacks and raises the risk of regional escalation at a crucial moment for the US, which scrambles to address Western fears of the possible Russian invasion of Ukraine. It’s also a time when the US administration is in talks to potentially restore Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers. It also comes after the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and the end of the American mission in Iraq, which opened a window to China, the US archrival, to expand in the region.
It’s also the time when the US needs to regain the role it played since the end of World War II, to protect the free flow of hydrocarbons not only to sustain the global economy as it used to be but this time also to combat any attempt from Russia to weaponise its energy supplies.
Oil prices have hit their highest level for more than seven years as worries about violence in the Middle East added to an already tight outlook for supply. The current energy crisis signals that crude oil will remain an essential component of the world energy mix for decades to come.
The recent repeated Houthi attacks and the violent flare-ups involving so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria raised concerns of the US officials that the Middle East is still a hotbed for threats that can jeopardise world security.
Also, the desire of the US administration not to repeat the fallout of the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and to stop the potential Chinese influence expansion into the Middle East may prompt the Biden Administration to shift its policy and give more focus to this region again in the second year of their term.
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