![\"Smoke](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/327800.JPG\" "\\"Smoke")
<\/p>\nFEBRUARY 28 \u2014 The decision by the State of Israel to launch what it described as a pre-emptive strike against the Islamic Republic of Iran marks a grave escalation in Middle Eastern geopolitics.<\/p>\n
It is not merely another episode in a long rivalry. It is a rupture with far-reaching global consequences.<\/p>\n
Israel has justified the operation as necessary to neutralise what it considers an imminent nuclear and missile threat. Pre-emption, in Israeli strategic doctrine, is rooted in survival.<\/p>\n
Yet the invocation of pre-emptive force always raises a fundamental question: who determines imminence?<\/p>\n
If that threshold becomes subjective, the international system grows unstable.<\/p>\n
The prohibition on the unilateral use of force \u2014 anchored in the post-1945 order \u2014 risks erosion.<\/p>\n
The involvement of the United States under President Donald Trump further intensifies the stakes. What may have begun as a bilateral strike now carries the spectre of a broader regional war.<\/p>\n
Tehran has vowed retaliation. That promise cannot be dismissed as rhetoric.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Smoke rises following an explosion, after Israel and the US launched strikes on Iran, in Tehran, Iran, February 28, 2026. \u2014 WANA (West Asia News Agency) handout via Reuters<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s strategic culture is built upon deterrence through asymmetric means \u2014 including regional networks and missile capabilities.<\/p>\n
An Israeli-Iranian confrontation rarely remains confined. The Gulf, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq \u2014 all could become secondary theatres. Energy markets will react nervously.<\/p>\n
Shipping lanes may face disruption. Inflationary pressures will ripple globally.<\/p>\n
Beyond economics lies a deeper concern: the weakening of multilateral diplomacy.<\/p>\n
The United Nations system was designed precisely to prevent unilateral escalations of this magnitude.<\/p>\n
When major powers bypass collective adjudication, smaller states feel the tremors most acutely.<\/p>\n
For Asean, the lesson is clear. Regional stability anywhere affects prosperity everywhere.<\/p>\n
Malaysia and Southeast Asia cannot afford prolonged instability in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Energy security, trade routes, and labour markets are intertwined.<\/p>\n
The current crisis also underscores the fragility of nuclear diplomacy. Talks with Iran have ebbed and flowed over the years.<\/p>\n
Sanctions, enrichment thresholds, missile programmes \u2014 all remain contentious. But diplomacy, however imperfect, is always preferable to war.<\/p>\n
A sustained conflict would radicalise positions on all sides. It would empower hardliners. It would shrink the space for compromise.<\/p>\n
Pre-emption may yield tactical gains. Yet strategically, it risks normalising a doctrine that others may one day emulate.<\/p>\n
If every state reserves to itself the right to strike first based on perceived threats, the global order becomes perilously elastic.<\/p>\n
The Middle East does not need another cycle of devastation.<\/p>\n
Nor does the world. This moment demands restraint, renewed dialogue, and serious back-channel diplomacy.<\/p>\n
History will judge not merely who struck first \u2014 but who worked hardest to prevent the next strike.<\/p>\n
* Phar Kim Beng is a professor of Asean Studies and director of the Institute of International and Asean Studies, International Islamic University of Malaysia.<\/strong><\/p>\n ** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FEBRUARY 28 \u2014 The decision by the State of Israel to launch what it described as a pre-emptive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":794953,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3093],"tags":[51,3975,474,81645,230956,166799,2499,70094,16,230957,15],"class_list":["post-794952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-energy-security","tag-finance","tag-israel-iran-tensions","tag-middle-eastern-geopolitics","tag-nuclear-diplomacy","tag-personal-finance","tag-regional-stability","tag-uk","tag-unilateral-use-of-force","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116148858122727865","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/794953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}