World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

The British charity, Save the Children, estimates that 85,000 children under the age of five may have died from malnutrition in the war in Yemen.  The Saudi Arabian-led coalition continues to strike targets in Yemen even though the US has stopped refueling Saudi jets and Saudi Arabia clearly intends to strangle humanitarian assistance flowing to civilians through the port of Hudaydah.  In his statement yesterday, US President Trump blamed Iran for the catastrophe:  “On the other hand, Saudi Arabia would gladly withdraw from Yemen if the Iranians would agree to leave. They would immediately provide desperately needed humanitarian assistance.”  That point of view overestimates the support that the Houthi rebels in Yemen have received from Iran.  The war began as an internal struggle in Yemen as part of the Arab Spring–it has escalated largely because of the Saudi fears of losing control over Yemen.

Matthew Yglesias has written a very informative essay interpreting US President Trump’s policy toward Saudi Arabia.  He takes on Mr. Trump’s argument that the murder of Jamal Khashoggi is not as important as the strategic interest of the US in cultivating a friendly policy toward the Saudis:  “It’s true that at times, foreign policy pits American values against concrete American interests. But in this particular case, it’s hard to think of a more concrete American interest than deterring foreign governments from murdering Americans.”  Yglesias does a very good job of analyzing the arguments made the Trump Administration and refuting the assertions made simply by looking at the evidence.  The essay is a very good example of good journalism.  Robin Wright also has a very good essay in the New Yorker which effectively demolishes the position of the Administration.