Active neutrality in a dangerous era: Malaysia's test from Hormuz to Strait of Malacca

The war over Iran is no longer only a Gulf crisis. Its consequences are travelling through maritime chokepoints, monetary systems and Malaysian household budgets.

Malaysia does not need to be a military actor in the United States-Iran conflict to be strategically affected by it. In fact, our danger lies precisely in the temptation to treat this as someone else's war – a storm over Tehran, a blockade in Hormuz, a contest among giants in which a trading nation can remain just politely distant.