Speak with one voice against Mideast crisis, US expert tells Asean

2026-03-16 - 12:04

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who acted as moderator, and US economist Jeffrey Sachs at Forum Ilmuwan Malaysia Madani. PUTRAJAYA: US economist Jeffrey Sachs has urged Asean leaders to take a united stand against the escalating conflict in the Middle East, saying a collective voice from the region could pressure global powers to stop the war. Sachs, the president of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, said governments should not act individually if they wanted their concerns over the war in the Middle East to be heard. “It is important for countries to get together,” he told reporters after a speech at Forum Ilmuwan Malaysia Madani, moderated by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. The forum, themed “Strategies for Malaysia and Asean in an Era of Global Instability”, was organised by the higher education ministry. Sachs said it is important for all Asean leaders to say that “this (war) hurts us, this hurts the world, this needs to stop”. He said individual countries may hesitate to speak out for fear of repercussions, but a unified stance from Asean would carry significant weight. “No one country wants to say this alone. But if the group together representing 700 million people say it, it’s very powerful,” he said. Sachs also pointed to the influence of the BRICS bloc consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Indonesia, which together represent nearly half of the world’s population. “They should say, ‘Stop. Israel, go home. United States, go home. You’re not helping, you’re hurting the whole world,” he said. The war in the Middle East was triggered by wide-ranging strikes on Iran by the US and Israel, which led to the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. As of March 14, more then over 3,000 military personnel and civilians have been killed. Separately, Anwar, in condemning the attacks on Iran, said international law must be applied consistently to all nations to retain its credibility. He said “principles lose their authority when they are invoked selectively”. “These inconsistencies undermine confidence in the very foundations of the international system,” he said.