Bernard F. W. Loo is a Senior Fellow with the Military Studies Programme, and concurrently Coordinator of the Master of Science (Strategic Studies) programme. He completed his doctoral studies at the Department of International Politics at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth in 2002. He is the author of Medium Powers and Accidental Wars: A Study in Conventional Strategic Stability (Edwin Mellen, 2005). His edited volume, Military Transformation and Operations (Routledge, 2009), was translated into complex Chinese for the Taiwanese military. His other publications have appeared in the Journal of Strategic Studies, Contemporary Southeast Asia, NIDS Security Reports, and Taiwan Defense Affairs. He is a regular commentator on defence matters, and his commentaries have appeared in The Straits Times (Singapore), The Nation (Thailand), and The New Straits Times (Malaysia). He has been invited to speak at a variety of defence-related institutions and conferences, in the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), China, Finland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines and Taiwan. His research interests encompass defence policy, war studies, strategic theory, conventional military strategies, and the strategic challenges of small and medium powers.

• Defence Policy
• Evolution of Wafare
• Strategic Theory
• Conventional Military Strategies
• Strategic Problems of Small Powers
• Problems and Prospects of Military Transformation

• Honorary Member, Editorial Board, Taiwan Defense Affairs

Working Papers

• WP070 | Examining The Defence Industrialization-Economic Growth Relationship: The Case of Singapore

  01 July, 2004

RSIS Commentaries

• Nuclear Arsenals Not the Strategic Answer for Japan and South Korea

  16 February, 2023

• IDSS At 25: Pondering the Improbable

  03 August, 2021

• 21st Century Military Modernisation: Its Challenges

  29 March, 2019

• CO17196 | Managing a Nuclear North Korea: More Is Not Better

  19 October, 2017

• CO17063 | Strategy – Not Weapons – Wins Wars

  06 April, 2017

• CO14184 | To Defeat IS We Must Destroy It?

  16 September, 2014

• CO14063 | Historical Analogies in Policy-Making: Crimea, World War I and East Asia

  04 April, 2014

• CO13007 | The (Over?) Promise of Modern Technology

  15 January, 2013

• CO11067 | Image Matters: Military Effectiveness and SAF

  03 May, 2011

• CO10179 | Reviewing Military Education in SAF

  23 December, 2010

• CO10158 | Strategic Instability in Korea

  25 November, 2010

• CO10149 | Arms Races in Asia?

  15 November, 2010

• CO10111 | Chinese Military Power: Much Less than Meets the Eye

  09 September, 2010

• CO09123 | The pitfalls of joint warfare: Conjoined or Separated?

  09 December, 2009

• CO09110 | The Armed Forces of Southeast Asia in 2020

  10 November, 2009

• CO09087 | The Terrible Allure of Nuclear Weapons

  01 September, 2009

• CO09047 | F-15SG: The Last Manned Fighter for the RSAF?

  19 May, 2009

• CO08135 | Defence Spending and Military Modernisation: Should It Be Recession-Proof?

  19 December, 2008

• CO08129 | The Responsibility to Protect: Is there a viable strategy?

  05 December, 2008

• CO08102 | Transforming the Singapore Armed Forces:Matching technological prowess with organizational change

  25 September, 2008

• CO08065 | Responding to the tragedy of military training-related death

  17 June, 2008

• CO08030 | Assessing Military Power

  07 March, 2008

• CO07098 | 21st Century Warfare: Computers as the New Centre of Gravity

  24 September, 2007

• CO07074 | The Internet and Do-It-Yourself Jihadism: Much Less Than meets The Eye?

  17 July, 2007

• CO07048 | Strategic Trends 2007-2036 Right Horizon Scanning, Wrong Military Responses

  29 May, 2007

• CO07027 | ‘We Band of Brothers….’: Military decision,strategic success,and the Revolution in Military Affairs

  05 April, 2007

• CO06117 | Living with a Nuclear North Korea

  27 October, 2006

• CO06095 | Youtube Fiasco Undermines SAF Credibility

  11 September, 2006

• CO06047 | The 2006 Quadrennial Defence Review: Implications for Asian Security

  07 June, 2006

• CO06038 | Making Sense of the 2006 Quadrennial Defence Review

  19 May, 2006

• CO06027 | Expanding NATO: An Organisation Searching For The Wrong Missions

  21 April, 2006

• CO05089 | The Military and Counter-Terrorism

  08 December, 2005

• CO05087 | Sequels Seldom Sell: Why Terrorism is losing its Strategic Value for Al-Qaeda

  30 November, 2005

• CO05039 | U.S. Military Transformation and Implications for Asian Security

  01 July, 2005

• CO05034 | The US Military and Non-Conventional War: Is Firepower Cheaper than Manpower?

  21 June, 2005

• CO05030 | National Security Strategy in the Age of Revolutions in Security Affairs

  06 June, 2005

• CO05014 | A Nuclear North Korea – Assessing The Fallout

  28 March, 2005

• CO05005 | SAF: A Flexible Force To Deal With The Unexpected

  31 January, 2005

• CO04042 | How to Avoid a Nuclear Arms Race in Northeast Asia

  13 September, 2004

• CO04036 | Assessing the Structure of the New National Security Strategy

  27 August, 2004

• CO03028 | Homeland Security Strategies: The United States Approach

  24 July, 2003

• CO03018 | Gulf War II: Lessons and Implications For Singapore

  07 May, 2003

Authored Books

• Loo, Fook Weng, Bernard. Transformation and Military Operations, (ed.) London and New York: Routledge, 2009.
• Loo, Fook Weng, Bernard. Middle Powers and Accidental Wars: A Study in Conventional Strategic Stability. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2005.

Journal Articles

• “The Challenges Facing 21st Century Military Modernization” in PRISM, 8, 3, 2020, 146-157
• Loo, Fook Weng, Bernard. “Transforming the Indonesian Armed Forces: Concepts, Concerns, Challenges”, Contemporary Southeast Asia, forthcoming.
• Ong, Wei Chong; Bernard Loo. “Fighting Small Wars in the New Century: Questions and Insights for the SAF”, Pointer, 37(2), 2011.
• Loo, Fook Weng, Bernard. “Decisive Battle, Victory, and the Revolution in Military Affairs”, Journal of Strategic Studies, 32(2), April 2009, pp.189-211.
• Loo, Fook Weng, Bernard. “Transforming the Strategic Landscape of Southeast Asia”, Contemporary Southeast Asia, 27(3), December 2005, pp. 389-405.
• Loo, Fook Weng, Bernard. “Gulf War II: Assessing Iraqi Grand Strategies”, Taiwan Defense Affairs, 3(3), Spring 2003, pp. 74-97.
• Loo, Fook Weng, Bernard. “Geography and Strategic Stability”, Journal of Strategic Studies, 26(1), March 2003, pp.156-174.

Edited Books / Special Issues

• Strategic Currents: China and US Competition for Influence (with James Char), Eds. Singapore: World Scientific, 2024
• Strategy and Defence Policy for Small States: Problems and Prospects. Singapore: World Scientific, 2021

Chapters in Edited Books

• “Introduction: Technology Competition Between China and the United States: Problems, Prospects, and Challenges” (with James Char) in Bernard F.W. Loo, James Char , China and U.S. Competition for Influence, Singapore. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., 2024, pp.1-15
• Loo, Fook Weng, Bernard. “Naval Modernisation in South-east Asia: Modernisation versus Arms Races”, in Geoffrey Till and Jane Chan (eds.), Naval Modernisation in Southeast Asia. London: Routledge, 2013.
• Loo, Fook Weng, Bernard. “Goh Keng Swee and the Emergence of a Modern SAF” in Emrys Chew and Chong Guan Kwa (eds.), Goh Keng Swee: A Legacy of Public Service. Singapore: World Scientific: 2012.
• Vasu, Norman and Bernard Loo. "Total Defence for National Security: An Assessment." in Management of Success: Singapore Revisited, edited by Terence Chong, 462-488. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2010.
• Loo, Fook Weng, Bernard. “Debating the Revolution in Military Affairs: Options and Implications for Small to Medium Military Organisations” in Ralph Rotte and Christoph Schwarz (eds.), International Security and War: Policy and Grand Strategy in the 21st Century. Hauppauge: Nova Publishers, 2010.
• Loo, Fook Weng, Bernard; Norman Vasu. “National Security and Singapore: As Assessment” in Terence Chong (ed.), Management of Success. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2010.
• Loo, Fook Weng, Bernard. “Maturing the Singapore Armed Forces: from Poisonous Shrimp to Dolphin” in Bridget Welsh, James Chin, Arun Mahizhnan and Tan Tarn How (eds.), Impressions: The Goh Years in Singapore, pp. 178-197. Singapore: National University of Singapore Press, 2009.
• Loo, Fook Weng, Bernard. “Military Modernisation, Power Projection and the Rise of the PLA: Strategic Implications for Southeast Asia” in Sheldon Simon and Evelyn Goh (eds.), China, the United States, and Southeast Asia: Contending Perspectives on Politics, Security and Economics, pp. 185-199. New York and London: Routledge, 2008.
• Loo, Fook Weng, Bernard. “The Revolution in Military Affairs and Changing Security Concerns: Implications for Small States” in Tommi Koivula and Jyri Helminen (eds.), Armed Forces For Tomorrow, pp. 59-76. Helsinki: National Defence University, 2007.
• Loo, Fook Weng, Bernard. “Explaining Changes in Singapore's Military Doctrines: Material and Ideational Perspectives” in Amitav Acharya and Lee Lai To (eds.), Asia in the New Millennium: APISA First Congress Proceedings, 27-30 November 2003, pp. 352-375. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Academic, 2004.

Working Papers

• Loo, Fook Weng, Bernard. “New Problems, New Solutions? The Revolution in Military Affairs in an Era of Changing Security Concerns” in Proceedings of the NIDS Loo, Fook Weng, Bernard. International Symposium on Security Affairs, pp. 33-44. Tokyo: National Institute of Defence Affairs, 2006.

Op-Eds

• “Joint Military Exercises between Singapore and the Republic of Korea: Propositions and Prospects”, Korea on Point, 22 September 2022
• Loo, Fook Weng, Bernard. "Commentary: Should we be worried about North Korea?", Channel News Asia, 20 May 2017, http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/commentary-should-we-be-worried-about-north-korea-8860980
• Loo, Fook Weng, Bernard. "Stuck in the middle, South Korea has few options for securing peace with its Northern neighbour", The Conversation, 25 April 2017, https://theconversation.com/stuck-in-the-middle-south-korea-has-few-options-for-securing-peace-with-its-northern-neighbour-76324
• Bernard Fook Weng Loo and Koh Swee Lean Collin, “South China Sea: No Win-Win for China and US” The Diplomat, 30 October 2015.
• “Exposed: Singapore’s Aircraft Carrier in Disguise” (with Collin Koh Swee Lean), The National Interest, 18 March 2015

• S6005 The Analysis of Defence and Security Policies
• S6040 Intelligence in Peace and War