Along the fractured borderlands of the Arabian Peninsula, an old cycle has resumed: Houthi forces have struck Saudi military positions and infrastructure, choosing this moment — when diplomatic talks over Strait of Hormuz passage have quietly collapsed — to press their advantage. The breakdown of those negotiations removes the one framework that might have counseled restraint, leaving both sides to speak in the only language that remains available to them. What unfolds next will be felt not only across Yemen and Saudi Arabia, but in the energy markets and shipping lanes upon which much of the