The Straits Times
23 February 2018
- RSIS
- Media Mentions
- Singapore Paving the Way for Greater Regional Security
Singapore Paving the Way for Greater Regional Security
Singapore’s chairmanship of this year’s ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) comes at a time of great uncertainty in the region’s security environment.
Despite the multi-pronged challenges, the ADMM Retreat and the ASEAN-China Defence Ministers’ Informal Meeting – both held in Singapore earlier this month – provided promising outcomes.
The initiatives that came out of the two events reflect not just strategic vision, but also an astute appreciation of the issues at hand. It is early days yet, but Singapore’s overlapping remits as ASEAN chair for 2018 as well as ASEAN-China country coordinator for 2015-2018 have so far borne fruit.
If anything, Singapore’s efforts reflect its belief that the ADMM and ADMM-Plus are vital elements of the region’s security architecture – providing platforms that are open and inclusive, and bringing together all important regional stakeholders for dialogue and cooperation.
… Tan See Seng is professor of international relations at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University. He is also deputy director and head of research of the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies at RSIS.
IDSS / Print / Online
