The Houthis and the Red Sea crisis, Turkish threats in the Aegean, and political turmoil in Serbia
This week we’re traveling around the region, moving from the Red Sea to the Balkans.
While the Iran war has disrupted energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s attention shifted to another major global chokepoint at the mouth of the Red Sea this past week, the Bab-el Mandeb Strait, as Iran-backed Houthi rebels tighten their grip over this strategic maritime route and threaten Saudi Arabia's oil exports.
With the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab-el Mandeb Strait under threat, the world is bracing for a potential squeeze on oil prices, while the US appears to be sitting this one out, so far declining to intervene on Saudi Arabia’s behalf.
The Houthi attacks are also the first test for the new Mecca Agreement, the defense pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan.
While all eyes are on the Red Sea, tensions have been quietly brewing in the Aegean, where Turkey is once again ramping up its provocations. We’ve seen Turkey engage in new airspace violations, provoke with the announcement of controversial marine parks, slam Greece’s recent defense deal with Israel as an attempt to “encircle” Turkey, and this week Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan absurdly called Greece’s defense of its Aegean islands a “threat”.
Looking to Greece’s north, the Western Balkans are coming under the spotlight again after Serbia’s President Alexandar Vucic, who has been in power as president or prime minister for 12 years, dissolved parliament and called for snap elections in October. Serbia has been rocked by student-led protests and political turmoil over the last two years, and demands for accountability and change are widespread.
This is also raising questions about the EU’s commitment to fully integrate the Western Balkans, an effort that has lost momentum over the past years. Could this be an opportunity to use its leverage to promote reform and the resolution of bilateral issues? Some experts think it may be.
Aaron David Miller, Constantinos Filis, and James Ker-Lindsay join Thanos Davelis this week as we look into all of these developments, exploring what they mean for Greece and the wider region.
A little more info on our guests:
Aaron David Miller is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and expert on the Middle East.
Constantinos Filis is an associate professor at the American College of Greece and director of its Institute of Global Affairs.
Professor James Ker-Lindsay is an expert on the EU, the Balkans, and Southeast Europe.
You can support The Greek Current by joining HALC as a member here.