Kuala Lampur, May 9 -- When nuclear-armed India and Pakistan lurch toward conflict, the world holds its breath - not because war between them is unprecedented, but because the escalation could quickly spiral out of control. The recent series of tit-for-tat military actions, missile exchanges, and aerial combat has brought the region once again to the brink.

Yet while global attention focuses on Kashmir and the Line of Control, South-east Asia particularly Asean - sits exposed on another frontline: economic shockwaves, diplomatic fragmentation, and regional instability.

Under Offensive Realism - a theory advanced by John Mearsheimer - this kind of escalation is not only dangerous, but inevitable. In an anarchic international UK system wh...