Yemen Caught Between Two Transnational Projects: A Conflict Threatening the Future of the Entire Region
- 2026-10-16
- 14:22:57
Paris – Jamal Al-Awadhi
Amid the ongoing conflict in Yemen, two ideological projects have emerged as particularly dangerous. Although they differ in their ideological foundations and methods, both, in my view, pose a direct threat to regional security, the stability of states, and the future of their peoples.
The first is Iran’s sectarian expansionist project, which seeks to extend Tehran’s regional influence through affiliated armed groups and organizations.
The second is the Muslim Brotherhood’s transnational project, in which, according to its critics, organizational loyalties and ideological objectives take precedence over the interests, sovereignty, and strategic priorities of nation-states.
The paradox is that both projects, despite their different ideological foundations and alliances, employ nationalist and Islamic slogans, as well as the Palestinian cause, the war in Gaza, and confrontation with Israel, as central elements of their political discourse. These issues carry enormous emotional and symbolic weight across Arab and Muslim societies.
More dangerously, in my assessment, such slogans are not always employed to advance the causes they claim to represent. Instead, they can become instruments for influencing Arab public opinion, mobilizing societies, and exerting popular and political pressure on governments in pursuit of objectives that extend far beyond the Palestinian cause itself.
This is one of the mechanisms through which certain political Islamist movements seek to expand their influence. Religious and nationalist sentiments, together with legitimate and widely supported causes, are used to transform public sympathy into political pressure and, ultimately, into organizational and political gains.
During the Arab Spring uprisings, we witnessed millions of people taking to the streets with legitimate aspirations for freedom, dignity, justice, and a better future. Yet some of these political transformations subsequently became arenas for struggles over power, benefiting ideological and organizational forces that were better prepared to dominate the emerging political landscape.
In several cases, the forces that came to power failed to fulfill the expectations placed upon them. Political and institutional conflicts, combined with foreign interference and other factors, deepened divisions and contributed to a descent into instability and chaos, leaving populations facing conditions even harsher than those they had originally risen to change.
Herein lies the tragedy: the aspirations of entire populations for freedom and change can be transformed into instruments in a struggle for power, while ordinary Arab citizens ultimately pay the price for political projects that do not necessarily reflect their genuine ambitions.
The most important lesson from the region’s experiences is the need to distinguish between the legitimate causes embraced by ordinary people and the political forces seeking to exploit those causes to advance their own agendas.
Supporting Palestine is a just cause. However, the legitimacy of that cause does not automatically confer legitimacy upon every movement or organization claiming to champion it. Likewise, confrontation with Israel cannot serve as a justification for undermining the sovereignty of Arab states or transforming their territories into battlegrounds for regional power struggles.
Today, the conflict extends far beyond Yemen’s borders, raising a fundamental question about the future of the Arab nation-state in the face of transnational ideological projects.
All parties must look toward the future, move beyond past disagreements and narrow political calculations, and recognize that safeguarding regional security and stability requires strong national institutions, alliances built on shared strategic interests, and a level of political awareness capable of looking beyond emotionally charged slogans, regardless of their power to mobilize public sentiment.
Nations are not built through slogans, nor are they protected by religious or nationalist grandstanding. They are built and safeguarded through strong states, functioning institutions, national sovereignty, and the determination of their peoples to achieve security, stability, and development.