In this Office Hours, Roy speaks from Dubai after witnessing air defenses intercept missile and drone attacks across the UAE, as the war widens beyond initial strikes on Iran. The discussion moves from the lived experience of escalation to the broader stakes: oil leverage through the Strait of Hormuz, regional spillover risks involving the UK, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Lebanon, and Israel, and the economic consequences of disruption in the Gulf. They also examine U.S. political messaging around the conflict — including shifting rhetoric, institutional guardrails, and concerns about executive power — and warn about the dangers of volatile decision-making during wartime. As in the previous episodes, the central question remains: does this represent controlled escalation, or the early stages of a wider regional war whose consequences may extend far beyond the Middle East?
