|
Trending Topics
|
Why Do the EU and U.S. Have Separate Security Operations in the Red Sea?
(Breaking Defense) Agnes Helou - There are now two separate Western missions to protect commercial vessels in the Red Sea: the EUNAVFOR Aspides mission launched by the EU last week and the U.S.-led Operation Prosperity Guardian launched in December. Analysts said the move by European nations to launch their own mission signals a push for independence from the U.S.-led operation's more aggressive approach to taking on the Houthi threat. David Des Roches, associate professor at the Near East South Asia Center for Security Studies, said the Europeans "do not want to be seen as part of a U.S. operation, which they fear will have an offensive component." U.S. officials have stressed that Prosperity Guardian is a "defensive coalition" and is separate from the offensive American and British military strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.