Italy’s streets are on fire, and Moscow may be holding the match. European governments must act to end any political ambiguity that favors Russia’s government. The US can’t gift France or Italy to Putin

Two forces, converging yet distinct, drive the violent protests in Milan and, perhaps, those in France and other European countries. The first is resentment, a social discontent that accumulated like dry wood. The second is the group that fans discontent, not to solve the problems but to make them grow. That probably helped organize the violence in the streets in recent days.

The two forces meet in a spark, which can be an incident, even an accidental one, during peaceful demonstrations. The incident, of course, may not be accidental; it may have been deliberately provoked.

The two forces must be addressed separately. Both are political, but they call for different policies. The first requires thorough analysis and medium- to long-term measures to remove the wood from the fire. The second requires swift action to prevent the fire from becoming a conflagration.

The Radical group from Yemen is not simply Iran’s proxy, like others in the region. It’s a new defiant challenge that has created new ties with Russia and China, bypassing Tehran.

As a clear sign of their ideological inclinations, Houthi leaders appointed Beraas Shams al-Din Muhammad Sharaf al-Din as a new mufti in April 2017 to serve as the leading religious authority in Sana’a. Sharaf al-Din was educated in Iran and is believed to be one of the most important links between Iran and the Houthi movement. And here is the most important element in the Houthi hierarchy: Shams al-Din is not the highest religious authority in the Houthi system.

Abdul-Malik al-Houthi’s ideological roots stem from a blend of Jaroudi Zaydism, the legacy of the Believing Youth (Shabab al-Mumin) movement, founded by his brother Hussein Badr al-Din, and the revolutionary model of Iran’s Wilayat al-Faqih.

Based on his speeches, ideological texts, and regional analyses, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the present leader of the movement, views himself as a divinely appointed spiritual and military guide tasked with leading a holy war.