Yemen: Behind the Saudi ‘peace offer,’ a US sales pitch

After six years, billions of dollars, and more than 200,000 lives lost, a rare diplomatic breakthrough in Yemen’s war has emerged in an unlikely guise: a Saudi peace initiative.

Under pressure from the United States, Riyadh is proposing a cease-fire agreement that offers concessions while failing to secure a single objective of its six-year war.

Yet the agreement is not without benefit for the Saudis: a chance to repair their tattered global reputation.

With diplomacy having successfully shifted one major player in the conflict, pressure is intensifying on the Shiite Houthis and other actors to close in on an elusive cease-fire, enabling relief for a country wracked by war, famine, poverty, cholera, and COVID-19.

Last week’s progress is owed in part to renewed U.S. engagement led by U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen Tim

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