We are accustomed to viewing wars in the Middle East from the West — through the lens of Washington, Brussels, or Jerusalem. Seen from the Indo-Pacific, the picture looks different. The U.S.–Israel war with Iran is being assessed across Asia not primarily as a regional confrontation, but as a strategic event with global implications — affecting energy markets, revealing the operational depth of American alliances, and informing China’s assessment of U.S. military reach in a period of intensifying great-power rivalry.
Over the past weeks I have been in the Indo-Pacific — traveling from Tokyo to Seoul to Manila and now to New Delhi for policy discussions as the war unfolded. In each capital the conflict surfaced quickly in conversation. Officials, analysts, and journalists are asking many of the same questions: What does this war reveal about American power? What does it demonstrate about alliance coordination? And what might it mean for the stability of global energy supplies?
I am writing these lines from the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi, one of the Indo-Pacific’s major policy conferences. Even here, thousands of kilometers from the battlefield, the effects of the war are visible. Organizers report that roughly 1,200 of the expected participants had to cancel their attendance as the conflict disrupted aviation routes across the Gulf. With airspace around major regional hubs such as Dubai, Doha, and Abu Dhabi closed or restricted following Iranian missile strikes, flights across the region have been rerouted or suspended. What appears geographically distant quickly becomes logistically immediate.
For policymakers in Seoul, Tokyo, New Delhi, and Manila, the Middle East is geographically far away but remains strategically consequential. The region supplies the oil and gas that power much of Asia’s economic growth. Unlike the countries of the Middle East, Indo-Pacific states are not under direct physical threat from the conflict. Their vulnerability is economic. Disruption to Gulf energy supplies, shipping routes, and transport hubs reverberate immediately across Asian economies.
The effects are already visible. In India, tourism and travel have been affected as commentary about instability in the region discourages visitors and complicates flight routes. With air connections through Gulf transit hubs disrupted, travelers have been forced onto longer, more expensive journeys. A war thousands of kilometers away is already shaping everyday economic decisions in the Indo-Pacific.
Energy security remains the most immediate concern. Asia consumes the majority of the oil exported from the Persian Gulf, and even modest disruptions can ripple quickly through regional economies. Japan imports most of its crude oil from the Middle East. South Korea and India rely heavily on Gulf suppliers as well. Southeast Asian economies are similarly dependent. A prolonged conflict that threatens shipping lanes or energy infrastructure could therefore produce economic shockwaves far beyond the Middle East.
At the same time, the war is being studied in the Indo-Pacific as a demonstration of American military capacity. Strategists are watching the degree to which the United States can sustain a high-intensity conflict in the Middle East without weakening its deterrence posture in Asia. In Tokyo, Seoul, and other regional capitals, analysts are examining how Washington distributes military assets across theaters and whether the United States retains the ability to operate credibly in multiple regions simultaneously.
The conflict has also drawn particular attention to the operational integration between the United States and Israel. This is not simply a case of political alignment or logistical support. The war is demonstrating joint operational execution — including coordinated air force operations, shared intelligence, and integrated planning. Israel and the United States are effectively fighting as partners in the same battlespace. For observers in the Indo-Pacific, this has significant implications. The United States increasingly expects more from allies. Here, for the first time, the US has a full partner, fighting alongside each other in high-intensity operations. The U.S.–Israel operations are therefore being examined as an example of how deeply integrated military cooperation can function during wartime.
China is watching particularly carefully. Chinese strategists view the war through the lens of great-power competition. From Beijing’s perspective, the conflict provides insights into the operational reach of the U.S. military, the effectiveness of American alliances, and the resilience of global energy networks. Chinese analysts are studying how quickly the United States can project power into the region, how its partners contribute to military operations, and how the conflict affects global markets.
The Iran war is being watched across the Indo-Pacific not as a distant regional conflict, but as a signal about the resilience of global energy systems, the reach of American military power, and the durability of alliance networks that increasingly connect the world’s major strategic theaters.
Carice Witte is the Founder and Executive Director of SIGNAL Group. In 2011, Ms. Witte initiated Chinese-Israeli Track II exchanges and launched an annual program in Israel for Chinese faculty on teaching Israel Studies, leading to the establishment of Israel Studies Programs at universities across China.
Ms. Witte serves on the board of the Israel Council on Foreign Affairs. She immigrated to Israel from the U.S. in 1987 and is a graduate of Yale University. She has five children and four grandchildren.
