When the worst comes to the worst, the shirt is closer to me than the skirt,” Otto von Bismarck is said to have said.

His sentence could be the motto of most Asian governments today: In the growing crisis, many of them are struggling to retain their power.

The West can therefore not count on their solidarity in the Ukraine question, but has to see that they behave pragmatically.

With unemployment high and inflation rising, that means more and more of them are counting on Russian raw materials, arms and investments.

Inflation is being driven by several factors: mismanagement in many Asian countries, especially in South Asia.

Sri Lanka's elected ruling clan, the Rajapaksas, is the worst example of failed leadership in a country that was then unable to withstand challenges such as Corona, the return of migrant workers and the lack of tourists.

Others, like Pakistan, have relied on Beijing's loans for too long.

But the problems are more than just homemade.

For years, the world's money taps were so wide open that the prices of practically all goods and assets rose.

For years there has not been an economic summit in Asia without warning of the US interest rate turnaround.

Now the time has come.

The consequences were known long before: money is now flowing out of Asia into higher-yielding investments in America, especially since the dollar is considered a safe haven in view of the global crises.

As a result, the external value of Asian currencies falls.

Sri Lanka's rupee has seen the biggest drop, closely followed by the Pakistani rupee.

India's rupee, Asia's third largest economy, is hovering around its all-time low.

If the external value falls, it becomes more and more expensive to import and service dollar loans.

The "European War"

This is happening now at the precise moment of a third crisis.

It was the least to be foreseen and can be seen as the dreaded "black swan" by many Asian governments in particular.

The pandemic has stretched the world's factory supply chains to breaking point.

The house arrest in China's metropolises during Corona has led to an additional shortage of supply and fueled inflation.

However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine then made imports of staple foods such as corn and wheat, and above all oil and gas, skyrocketingly expensive.

The resulting increase in inflation rates will hit hundreds of millions of poor people in Asia in particular.

Governments fear this army.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has failed to deliver on his 2014 pledge to create 100 million new jobs in order to raise India's "demographic dividend".

Tens of thousands of young people have just taken to the streets because the army has only promised them one job for four years.

Now governments in almost every country in the region have to raise fuel prices.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka are being forced to do so by their creditors.

Other governments cut subsidies.

Still others have to pass on at least some of the high world market prices.

But if the moped cannot be refueled to drive the children to school or the vegetables to the market, if the outboard motor can no longer be started, the Asians in their distress also overthrow governments, such as the 1998 dictator Suharto in Indonesia.

That is why there is fear in the palaces.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz fears "social explosives" in view of higher energy bills.

Asian governments fear a loss of power in the face of inflation.

This explains why the Asians are not afraid to get involved with Russia.

Of course they don't want to alienate the West.

But they do not see the "European war" as theirs.

Asia's governments are fighting to stay in power by buying cheap oil.

President Putin can be confident that Asians will continue to take oil from him for a long time, which he insures and offers below the world market price.

Asians justify their actions wisely.

You know very well that Europe, especially Germany, has transferred more than $60 billion to Moscow for gas since the invasion of Ukraine.

So why shouldn't Asia do the same?

And they openly declare that an Asia with stable governments is worth its weight in gold in these times.

A second saying of the Reich Chancellor thus gains weight: "We have to deal with the realities and not with fictions."