Trumps Krieg im Iran verdeutlicht den Wandel der USA von einem globalen Wächter zum Schiedsrichter des Chaos

Hi r/geopolitics, this is Jake from The Guardian US. We wanted to share this analysis that we published today about the ways that the US is recklessly spreading economic havoc among global friends and foes while suffering little harm itself.

*From Eduardo Porter’s piece:*

To shield ordinary Indians from the war in Iran, the government in Delhi [redirected supplies](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-10/india-prioritizes-households-as-it-redirects-lpg-from-refiners?embedded-checkout=true) of liquefied gas to Indian families, for which it is the main cooking fuel, limiting supplies to the plastics industry. The Nepalese government [rationed gas](https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/nepal-ration-cooking-gas-due-panic-over-shortage-2026-03-12/) and the Philippines trimmed the [government workweek](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-06/philippines-mulls-shorter-work-week-using-less-air-con-to-save-on-energy-costs) to four days. Bangladesh [closed universities](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/9/bangladesh-shuts-universities-limits-fuel-sale-as-iran-war-causes-shortage) and rationed fuel.

They have been hardest hit by Iran’s [closure of the strait of Hormuz](https://bsky.app/profile/nikoecon.bsky.social/post/3mhkr3mdz2k2o). Economies in Asia [import over a third](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.IMP.CONS.ZS?locations=Z4-8S) of the energy they consume, on average. Korea imports four-fifths; Japan nine-tenths; Thailand 55%. Most of this comes from the Gulf. About 80% of oil and oil products transiting through the strait in 2025 was destined for Asia, according to the International Energy Agency. But traffic through its waters has [collapsed by 90%](https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/data-tools/middle-east-maritime-chokepoints-shipping-monitor).

Europe is less reliant on fuel from the Middle East. But it is intensely dependent on imported oil and, critically, natural gas, whose price has [surged](https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/eu-natural-gas) since US and Israeli bombardments began in Iran. This is reflected in equity markets. By 20 March the MSCI index of European stocks had fallen about 11% since the start of the war, more than the 9% fall of the MSCI Asia index.

So far, the advanced economy that has shown most resilience as war in the Middle East wreaks havoc in energy markets is that of the United States. The S&P 500 index has lost a relatively modest 5% since the beginning of Trump’s war. And that reveals a lot about where we are going.

The data speaks to the relative resilience of the US economy and, especially, its abundance of domestic natural gas, which satisfies about 36% of its energy needs and [insulates it](https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/natural-gas) to a significant degree from the vagaries of international prices.

But it adds an uncomfortable chapter to the main narrative of the world economy. It is a story in which the United States – once a guardian of a rules-based global order – dons the role of its nemesis, recklessly spreading havoc among friends and foes while suffering relatively little harm of its own.

[*You can read the full story for free at this link*](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/25/trump-war-in-iran-us-shift-global-chaos?referring_host=Reddit&utm_campaign=guardianacct)*.*

US bad, tyrannical religious dictators…not so bad.