ISAS Briefs

Sunni - dominated Saudi Arabia might have miscalculated when it went into Yemen , not with boots on the ground but with bombs from the air, to try and deter the advance of the Shiite Houthi rebels. R i yadh and its Gulf allies, somewhat grandiosely called their intervention ' Op eration Decisive Storm', obviously bor rowing the jargon from the West. When it began the airstrikes, which appeared to be in imitation of a number of similar W estern actions in the M iddl e E ast and North Africa, the Saudis and their co - bombers might have assumed it would be a cake - walk. It wasn't. Notwith standing mounting civilian casualties, the Houthis fo u ght back with resilience that took the Gulf monarchies by surprise. In their consternation , the monarchies turned to the militarily most powerful Muslim State, the nuclear - armed Pakistan , asking for military support . The Pakistani response was a greater shock to them than even the t rail of Houthi successes. The government in Islamabad demurred, and then turned the ball over to the Parliament, which after a long and arduous debate, declined.