Should the U.S. Military Invade Yemen? || Peter Zeihan

YouTube/Podcast · Listen · (gathered 2026-10-21)

• A US military invasion of Yemen to secure Red Sea shipping would be a disastrous undertaking, combining the worst challenges of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and ultimately wouldn’t solve the broader regional security issues posed by Iran.
• Yemen’s mountainous terrain and historically “ornery” population make it an extremely difficult target for occupation, requiring an invasion of the interior rather than just the coast, and presenting severe infrastructure and supply chain challenges.
• The Houthi threat, using Iranian-supplied missiles and drones with ranges over 100 miles, is part of a larger Iranian regional strategy; neutralizing Yemen alone would not secure energy flows, as Iran can strike from Iraq or directly from its own territory with 600-mile range weapons.
• There is “no military solution whatsoever” to secure Persian Gulf energy, forcing the US into an “ugly choice”: either make significant political concessions to Iran or disengage from the Middle East, accepting it cannot control regional energy flows.