Impact of the Middle East Crisis on ASEAN’s Strategic and Economic Landscape

The intensifying Iran–US–Israel conflict is generating profound disruptions across global geopolitics, energy markets, and technology supply chains — with asymmetric consequences for ASEAN member states. This closed-door dialogue, held under Chatham House rules, will convene Ambassadors of nine ASEAN member states alongside the Observer Research Foundation Middle East to assess both the immediate shocks and longer-term structural shifts arising from the crisis.

Deliberations will be organized around three interconnected dimensions: the geopolitical and geoeconomic realignments reshaping trade corridors and alliance structures; the implications for energy security and its cascading effects on food and water systems; and the accelerating fragmentation of technology and AI ecosystems amid escalating great-power competition.

The session aims to facilitate a candid exchange of perspectives among ASEAN member states, building mutual understanding of the strategic and economic pressures arising from the crisis and identifying areas of shared concern.