India, Sept. 21 -- The latest Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia have pushed an already volatile Middle East closer to a wider regional confrontation. What began as a conflict rooted in Yemen is now spilling across borders, threatening vital shipping lanes, disrupting energy markets and drawing in Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United States, Pakistan, Turkey and Israel.

In a conversation with Hindustan Times Senior Anchor Aayesha Varma, HT Executive Editor Shishir Gupta described the situation as an "endless wars" scenario-one in which military conflict, sectarian rivalries, great-power politics and domestic electoral pressures are all converging at once. The result, he argued, is a dangerous and unstable global environment with direct implication...