The US-Iran war is hurting the world. No country - rich or poor, large or small - has been spared. Pakistan is among those that have been gravely hurt. It is paying a heavy price due to the sharp rise in the cost of essential commodities it imports. Gasoline, diesel, and cooking oil prices have increased, affecting the poor more than those who are relatively better off. In poor nations, half of the average household income goes toward purchasing food and energy. As a large proportion of the population in these countries lives on the edge of economic deprivation, with little savings for rainy days, the price surge has hit the poorest segments particularly hard.

The global fallout resulting from the war has gravely damaged the world's economic, social and political order constructed after the end of World War II. Eswar Prasad, an international economist of Indian origin who served at the International Monetary Fund before taking up a teaching position at Cornell University, has aptly summarised the global situation created by the moves the US president made during his second term. He did so in an article published in The New York Times on April 25, 2026, titled "Nearly Half of the World Is Bearing the Brunt of the Global Disorder." He wrote, that there is nothing new in the situation faced by the world's poor nations: "This is hardly new. These countries, especially smaller ones, have always borne the brunt of global disorder, from wars to financial crises. Today, about 75 countries have average annual income per capita of less than $4,50. By........

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