Abstract

The Iran War, which started in late February 2026, has generated profound geopolitical and economic repercussions across regions. Given the rapidly changing situation in the Middle East, this RSIS-NBS webinar examines the security implications of the Iran war and its global economic impacts. The webinar will address the strategic interests of the US, Israel, Iran, and the Gulf States, and analyse the multi-fold impact of the war on regional energy production and infrastructure. The webinar will also unpack the supply chain disruptions that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused so far, and the varying strategic responses of the key players. Practical insights for policymakers and business leaders navigating strategic uncertainties in the current environment will also be explored.

About the Speakers 

Lawrence Anderson is Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. He joined RSIS in November 2021 after a 37-year career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). His areas of interest include regional security in the Asia-Pacific, ASEAN, Sino-US strategic competition, and conflicts including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Israel-Palestinian war. He was formerly Singapore’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Cambodia. He is a Senior Fellow at the MFA Diplomatic Academy. He is also Singapore’s Representative to the Advisory Board of the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (ASEAN-IPR). He is editor of the book “Beyond the Handshake: The Singapore Foreign Service”, a collection of essays by former Ambassadors and senior officials who served in the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has also contributed commentaries and articles to books and publications in both Singapore and abroad.

Park Kee Hyun is an Assistant Professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University. He holds a Ph.D. in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland and B.A. and M.A. degrees in International Relations from Seoul National University. Before joining NTU, he was a postdoctoral scholar in the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University.

Dr Park’s research spans several areas within International Political Economy, including the political economy of trade, U.S. foreign economic policymaking, firms’ political behaviour in global value chains, and economic sanctions. He is currently developing a novel database on government-mandated economic restrictions from the U.S., the EU, and the UN, covering the entire post–Cold War era. This effort is part of the “Government-Imposed Restrictions on International Economic Relations” project, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation.