Introduction
The Institute of Defence
and Strategic Studies (IDSS) is a key research
component of the S. Rajaratnam School of International
Studies (RSIS). It focuses on security research
to serve national needs. IDSS' faculty and research
staff conduct both academic and policy-oriented
research on security-related issues and developments
affecting Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific.
Its research agenda presently comprises the following
programmes: Maritime Security, the Revolution
in Military Affairs, Multilateralism
and Regionalism, Contemporary Islam, Indonesia
and China.
Maritime Security Programme
Research
in maritime security started in 2004 following
concerns over the security of ports and sea
lanes
in the
Southeast Asian region. The Programme focuses
on
issues such as maritime terrorism, and piracy
and armed
robbery along the sea lanes. The Programme has
produced policy papers such as the well received
report
Safety and Security in the Malacca and
Singapore Straits.
Revolution In Military Affairs
Programme
The Revolution in
Military Affairs (RMA) Programme was established
in 2003
with the aim of developing an indigenous
scholarly and policy-relevant expertise on
the subject
of RMA theory and the related area of military
transformation. The Programme seeks to
adapt the existing body of RMA literature
towards the
geopolitical conditions that relate to
Singapore and the Singapore Armed Forces
(SAF). In doing
so, the Programme aims to be relevant to
the future development of the SAF. Staff
of the Programme
work closely with the
Future Systems Directorate (FSD) in identifying
areas of research.
Multilateralism And Regionalism
Programme
In the brief span
of less than a decade, academic and policy
relevant
scholarship produced by IDSS on rnultilateralism
and regionalism in the Asia-Pacific has
earned well deserved international renown.
Funded by
international foundations such as the Sasakawa
Peace Foundations of Japan and the United
States, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation of
Germany, and
Singapore's Ministry of Defence, the research
output of the Programme is comparable to
that of more established centres elsewhere.
As a result
of its success, the Programme will soon
be upgraded into another centre within the RSIS.
Its evolution from a progamme into the Centre
for Advanced Study in Regionalism and Multilateralism
is an important step in its aim to be the
leading
research hub for rnultilateralism and regionalism
studies in the Asia-Pacific.
Contemporary Islam Programme
The Contemporary
Islam Programme (CIP) was formed to undertake
independent studies on the role and
perceptions of Islam in the context
of politics and society in Southeast Asia.
The Programme
investigates Muslim attitudes in
Southeast Asian studies on grassroots and elite
perceptions of
major issues pertaining to Islam's
role in society attitudes towards Syariah,
Jihad, etc.) The Programme
also attempts to create institutional
capacity by developing a core team of faculty
members
who undertake teaching as well as
policy-relevant and scholarly research in various
aspects of
Muslim politics, jurisprudence, and
state-society relations that is accessible
to the wider public.
Research by CIP members and associates
include Shia Islam in Southeast Asia, political
Islam
in Malaysia and Indonesia, and the
role of the Ulama in Malaysian society.
One of
our earliest research efforts, the Indonesia
Programme studies
developments in the archipelago.This Programme
focuses on national
politics, political Islam, militant Islamic
movements, civil-military relations, Singapore-Indonesia
relations,
and the political economy
of the Riau.
The diversity of research backgrounds in the
Programme maximises the potential for cross
disciplinary
work on the problems of contemporary Indonesia.
A significant part of the Indonesia Programme
is its "Developments in Indonesia Public
Lecture Series" which raised the Institute's
profile in 1999 when it invited leaders of
the reformasi movement - Abdurahman
Wahid, Megawati Sukarnoputri and Amien Rais
-to share their perspectives on post-Suharto
developments in
the country. Such initiatives also serve as
a platform for networking between the Singapore
policy community
and the emerging political elite in Indonesia.
The China
Programme in the Institute looks broadly at
China's strategic thinking and behaviour. Its
members provide a distinctive regional voice
on
the issue of the role of China as a rising
power. The programme gives priority to research
on the
evolution of China's strategic thinking and
behaviour, how these are influenced by domestic
politics,
by confidence building measures between China
and regional states, and by regional institutions
such
as the ASEAN Regional Forum,
10+3 and the East Asian Summit; and how regional
states' perceptions and behaviour toward China
have
been shaped as a result. The Programme also
studies
the military dimension of China's strategic
thinking and behaviour and China's thinking
and actions
on issues such as anti-terrorism, maritime
security and Taiwan. It also examines China
and Japan-China
relationships and their implications for
the region and regional states.
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