{
  "id": 16928698,
  "title": "The Incredible Shrinking Superpower",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/28/the-incredible-shrinking-superpower",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-28T17:04:39.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Intercept",
    "slug": "the-intercept-theintercept",
    "url": "https://theintercept.com/2026/10/28/yemen-saudi-arabia-iran/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Just after taking office in 2025, President Donald Trump clashed with Yemen's Ansarullah, commonly known as the Houthis. President Trump, who only recently understood the limits of American military power, had learned it from experiences in Korea, Laos, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Iraq. The U.S. military could inflict significant damage, but it struggled to win wars without defeating weak opponents like Grenada and Panama. After U.S. forces killed many civilians but failed to weaken the Yemeni forces, Trump withdrew. Then, he engaged in a brief war with Iran, claiming to have destroyed their nuclear facilities. He followed this up with attacks on drug boats and the kidnapping of Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro. In February, after the U.S. military failed once again, Trump launched a second war against Iran. His strategy involved targeting elementary schools, hospitals, and apartment buildings, while the U.S.'s major military bases in the Middle East were destroyed, exposing its vulnerability. Despite failing to defeat Iran twice, Trump is now considering a third war. If he proceeds, it is likely to spark a larger conflict in the region, where Ansarullah has been attacking Saudi Arabia's airports and oil infrastructure, as well as its allies in Yemen, for weeks. To comprehend the reasons behind Trump's inability to achieve his objectives in 2025 and his reluctance to assist Saudi Arabia in 2026, TomDispatch contributor Juan Cole provides an in-depth analysis of the forces behind Ansarullah and their impact on American weakness in the Middle East.",
  "summary": "The failing war with Iran marks a dramatic retreat by the U.S. from the Middle East. The post The Incredible Shrinking Superpower appeared first on The Intercept .",
  "key_points": [
    "President Trump clashed with Yemen's Ansarullah (Houthis) upon taking office in 2025.",
    "U.S. military struggled to win wars without defeating weak opponents like Yemen."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}