When the oil runs dry: What next for globalization as Asia bears brunt of Iran war?

The Trump administration's confrontation with Iran is disrupting global oil supplies and forcing key Asian manufacturing hubs to declare energy emergencies, with the Philippines among US-aligned nations facing acute shortages. Asia's economic engine—which produces much of the consumer goods consumed in the West—depends heavily on affordable, stable energy from the Middle East, making it particularly vulnerable to Iran-related supply shocks. The resulting energy crisis threatens to reshape decades of globalization built on just-in-time supply chains and low-cost Asian manufacturing by forcing countries to either secure alternative energy sources or curtail production. Western consumers could face higher prices and supply delays as manufacturing activity slows across the region. The crisis highlights how geopolitical conflict in the Middle East now poses an existential challenge to the integrated global trade system that emerged after the Cold War.