In the early hours of a September Saturday, Saudi Arabia's air defenses stood between a ballistic missile and a capital city of eight million souls — one of several simultaneous Houthi strikes across the kingdom that were reportedly turned back before reaching their targets. The exchange is not a singular event but another verse in a years-long conflict rooted in Yemen's fractured sovereignty and regional power struggles. As the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy reserves its right to respond under international law, the world is reminded that the distance between deterrence and escalation is mea