So...What now? Since the collapse of the Syrian army, the Middle East has rarely witnessed a strategic failure of this magnitude. The Houthis were capable of disrupting maritime traffic even before gaining greater control over the approaches to the Bab al-Mandab. But territorial control changes the equation. It gives them far greater operational flexibility to threaten, disrupt, and potentially regulate one of the world’s most important maritime corridors. What has happened over the past sev