This week on Viewpoint Friday (May 8), we connect the dots across developments shaping Asia and the global economy.

Japan’s expanding defence ties — alongside the ASEAN Summit — point to shifting regional dynamics, even as tensions in the Gulf and ahead of the Trump–Xi meeting highlight how fragile stability remains.

What do these shifts mean for costs, confidence, and everyday life?

Vishnu Varathan, Managing Director and Head of Macro Research for Asia ex-Japan at Mizuho Bank, joins us to unpack what this week’s developments are really telling us — and why the world may be entering a more uncertain phase.