The range of duties a soldier today might be engaged in is really mind-boggling. The soldier is not merely a warrior defending the interests of the state. The soldier is also likely to be engaged in all kinds of activities not typically associated with the military organization: diplomacy; humanitarian relief and community building; project management; human resource management.

That aside, the military profession, too, has begun to seek answers to existential questions that the ‘post-modern’ twenty-first century has apparently raised – What does it now mean to be a soldier? How is the profession viewed within and without? Have civil-military relations changed in nature? In light of new definitions of ‘national security,’ how will the profession develop?

Our research agenda is intentionally holistic. Within our community, you will find specialists in defence diplomacy and international law and politics, defence economics and industrialization, military history, military sociology, revolutions in military affairs and theories of military transformation, and strategic theory.

This research agenda seeks to address the core interests of key stakeholders in the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, in particular MINDEF and the SAF. One of our key research activities is in supporting the transformation agenda of the SAF, as it transitions into the Third Generation Singapore Armed Forces.

We also have an active portfolio in the realm of education. Our faculty members lead a variety of courses in these areas for students working towards Masters or Doctoral degrees. Outside the Rajaratnam School, we support a variety of Professional Military Education courses throughout the SAF, from the Specialist and Warrant Officer Institute to officer education at the SAFTI Military Institute , at the SAF Advanced Schools and the Singapore Command & Staff College.