The escalating Iran war is pushing parts of the world into energy triage. Governments are deciding where to cut demand or absorb higher costs, while prioritizing dwindling supplies. In places like Bangkok and Vietnam, people are being urged to work from home, take the stairs and keep air-conditioning above 24°C, while some businesses are preparing for disruptions. The conflict is disrupting critical oil and natural gas shipments from the Middle East, sending prices soaring and threatening global growth — with Asia facing the greatest risk from the shock. That prompted some governments to draw on their emergency reserves, a stopgap measure that can only go on for so long.

As the Iran war widens, experts say the Middle East’s real strategic weak point may be water — not oil. Much of the Gulf’s drinking supply comes from desalination plants clustered along vulnerable coastlines within easy range of Iranian missiles and drones. Many of the individual plants supply water to millions of people. Without them, major cities could not sustain their current populations. In recent days, desalination plants have been struck by both the U.S. and Iran. Oil spills, contamination and sabotage also could disrupt supplies of the fresh water that also sustains hotels, industry and some agriculture.

Bahrain says Iranian drone attack has caused "material damage" to desalination plant.

President Donald Trump sought in his first State of the Union address to sell Americans on the idea of a booming economy, falling prices, and soaring jobs, yet he faces a skeptical public with a much gloomier view. Barely 12 hours before his speech, in fact, The Conference Board, a business research group, released its latest consumer confidence report. It showed that overall confidence in the economy remains historically low, and is barely above the level it plunged to in the depths of the COVID recession. Other polling has yielded similar results: Only 39% of Americans approve of Trump’s economic leadership, according to the latest Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey.