Part 2-Asia, China and beyond. The Russia-Ukraine war. Exploring energy markets in a destabilizing world.

As covered previously, energy is a requirement of the modern world. The energy markets have been roiled over the past 5 years with supply and price shocks, wars, geopolitical tensions, production bottlenecks, and logistical constraints. We will now continue our deep dive into how the Russia-Ukraine war is impacting the Asian markets.

The APAC (Asia-Pacific Region) is a culturally, linguistic, geographic, and temperately diverse area of the world. The Asia Pacific region also encompasses immense diversity in economic development and political systems. Northeast Asia is anchored by China, with its authoritarian governance and world's second largest economy transitioning to slower growth. Japan remains a prosperous democracy though hampered by aging demographics. South Korea successfully industrialized as a manufacturing hub and tech leader. In Southeast Asia, Singapore exemplifies economic success under more centralized rule. Meanwhile Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam have had more tumultuous democratic journeys.

Myanmar struggles with military rule reversing democratic progress. Further south, Australia and New Zealand are stable, affluent democracies though economically tied to China. India, across South Asia, is the world's largest democracy but faces development challenges. Other South Asian states like Pakistan and Bangladesh have decentralized governance with regional tensions. The small island nations of the Pacific have economies reliant on tourism, fishing and aid.

Overall, the Asia Pacific contains ancient kingdoms transitioning to modern nation states, stagnant autocracies and vibrant democracies, along with developing countries and advanced economies – illustrating the spectrum of economic and political models in one complex region. This diversity poses challenges for cooperation but also opportunities for growth through trade and shared regional institutions.

Taking a deeper dive into the largest economies in APAC highlights how lopsided the regional economic distribution is. Let’s take a look at how uncertainties in the energy markets are impacting the largest economies in the region.....

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