Red Sea Wars Fuse Horn of Africa and Middle East — SkimNews
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- Marco Rubio told Congress on June 3 that Sudan's civil war is a "proxy war," publicly naming Saudi Arabia and the UAE as obstacles to American efforts to end the three-year conflict.
- The UAE has been the most aggressive outside power in the Horn of Africa for the past decade, establishing ports and military bases, offering major financial packages to allies, and backing Sudan's Rapid Support Forces.
- Saudi Arabia has pivoted toward alignment with Egypt, Turkey, and Pakistan to counter UAE- and Israel-backed factions in the Horn while managing threats from Iran and the Houthis along Yemen's Red Sea coast.
- The risk of conflict is rising between Sudan's SAF (Saudi-backed) and Ethiopia (UAE-aligned), while a separate Ethiopia-Eritrea war could become regional — aggravated by the same Emirati-Saudi rift.
- Israel became the first country to recognize Somaliland's independence in December 2025, the same month Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government demanded the UAE withdraw after a UAE-backed separatist offensive near the Saudi border.
- The Red Sea was historically a single strategic zone — the Ottoman Empire ruled both shores, Omani rulers built an empire from Muscat to Zanzibar, and Aksumite Ethiopia briefly conquered parts of Yemen — before 20th-century colonialism and nationalism severed governance links across the water.
Why it matters: Saudi Arabia now backs Sudan's army while the UAE supports the rival RSF — a split that has spilled into Yemen and the Horn, meaning any new Ethiopia-Eritrea war or Houthi escalation drags Gulf powers into both theaters at once. The piece argues that treating the Red Sea as one security sphere is now unavoidable.
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