We are entering an age of prolonged insecurity,” one former U.S. energy official said of what have become chronic threats on the Middle East’s energy core.

The nation is nearing high-income status, a clash with its image as a champion of the Global South.

By Andrea Shalal BANGKOK, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Finance officials from around the world will gather in Thailand this week under the shadow of a widening war in the Middle East, the biggest energy supply shock ever and rising interest rates that together pose daunting risks to already-sluggish global economic growth.