With Iran blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the United States has quietly become the world's oil safety net — sending record amounts of crude to Asia to replace supplies that can't pass through. It's a strong display of U.S. energy power, and it is helping prevent the crisis from worsening. But there's a complication in the data: a large share of that oil is being drawn directly from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the country's emergency stockpile. The U.S. can continue to plug the gap — but only for a limited time.
Military planners, diplomats and defence chiefs are heading into one of Asia’s most important security summits under a growing shadow: fears that a future conflict over Taiwan could spiral far beyond conventional warfare. According to Reuters , Fresh analysis released ahead of this weekend’s Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore warns that a military clash between the United States and China carries a genuine risk of nuclear escalation.