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ColumnistArshaan Radman writes, "U.S. international diplomacy needs to adopt a more informed position on international issues."

A series of confrontations between Iran-linked proxies and the United States points to a growing challenge for the American presence in the Middle East.

In response to a drone strike that killed three American service members and wounded dozens in Jordan, U.S. military command has ordered airstrikes against targets in Iraq and Syria. Later, a joint U.S. and U.K. force struck Houthi targets in Yemen, leading to serious damage, with 17 Houthi fighters killed. The strikes in Yemen come as a response to Houthi activity aimed at the Red Sea trade, with the Houthis targeting American, British and Israeli-linked ships.

The recent strikes targeting American installations and trade are in part fueled by American support for Israel.

The Houthis, supported by Iran and located right next door to Saudi Arabia, are a Shia insurgent group and yet another front in the Saudi-Iran proxy conflict. In the context of the Yemeni Civil War, while the Houthis control only a fraction of the country, they control a majority of the population and the capital of the nation, Sanaa. Most of the land controlled by the Houthis actually mirrors that of North Yemen, separated from South Yemen until 1990.

The multinational U.S.-led coalition aimed at ensuring the safety and security of ships passing through the Red Sea combines 19 nations, according to Lara Seligman of Politico, with many choosing to remain anonymous in their support. Many international shipping companies are choosing to ship around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, adding more shipping mileage and cost, affecting the supply of many consumer and industrial goods.

In some situations, shipping costs through the Suez Canal have increased nearly fivefold as shipping companies are being charged more and more in insurance rates.

Two nations that are not present in the coalition are Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia is continuing the terms of a ceasefire agreement signed in 2022, while the U.A.E. has sat out for now, likely waiting for other powers to resolve the issues themselves.

A future Saudi response will most definitely be limited as the Saudi government and Iran are reaching a detente. Houthi strikes have also avoided Chinese ships, likely as an effort to limit the possibility of a Chinese response.

In December 2023, the French Navy shot down an Iranian-supplied Houthi rocket (estimated cost of $20,000) using an Aster 15 short-range rocket, which has an estimated cost of $1.1 million. At that rate, it is clear that long-term viability lies with the Houthis.

These implications mean the United States has to build its military around deterrence on a budget going forward.

Where real concern creeps in for the U.S. is the fact that in the face of the conflict in Ukraine, growing Chinese power and the current situation in Israel and Palestine, our military is being stretched thin. The economic battle of protecting ships through the Red Sea is a battle that the Houthis can win.

As U.S. military presence grows more and more around the globe, we have to start looking at mending our military to fight more irregular threats this much was evident from our time in Afghanistan. Furthermore, Irans proxy network is proving to be a greater threat than imagined on an international scale.

U.S. international diplomacy needs to adopt a more informed position on international issues. If done correctly, diplomacy still has a chance to work.

Arshaan Radman is a freshman at UT studying global health and biology. He can be reached at aradman@vols.utk.edu.

Columns and letters of The Daily Beacon are the views of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or the Beacon's editorial staff.

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Opinion: American airstrikes in Iraq, Syria, Yemen solidify a concerning reality - UT Daily Beacon