Mr Barry Desker
Mr Barry Desker
Following links control the content below
Biography
Barry Desker is the Distinguished Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), and Nanyang Professor of Practice, Nanyang Technological University. He is a Member of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights, Singapore and a Member of the Board of Directors of the Lee Kuan Yew Exchange Fellowship. He was the Chair of the ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) in 2018.
From 2000 to 2014, he was the Director, Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies and served as founding Dean of RSIS from 2007 to 2014. He was the Chief Executive Officer of the Singapore Trade Development Board from 1994 to 2000 and Singapore’s Ambassador to Indonesia from 1986 to 1993.
Ambassador Desker served as Singapore’s Non-Resident Ambassador to the Holy See and Spain from 2007 to 2020.
A President’s Scholar, he was educated at the University of Singapore, University of London and Cornell University. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Warwick in 2012 and Doctor of Laws by the University of Exeter in 2013. Ambassador Desker has also been very active in the corporate world serving on the boards of Singaporean and multi-national corporations.
Areas of Expertise
- WTO
- Terrorism and civil conflict in Asia
- Regional economic and security issues
Professional Activities
- Singapore’s representative to the Governing Board of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)
- Director of the Cordell Hull Institute (Washington, D.C.)
- Honorary Advisor, UN Association of Singapore
- Member, International Advisory Board, Brenthurst Foundation (South Africa)
- Member, International Advisory Board, Africa Progress Group
- Member of the Editorial Board, The Journal of Strategic Studies
RSIS Publications
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Perspectives on the Security of Singapore: The First 50 Years
06 August, 2015
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Goh Keng Swee: A Public Career Remembered
01 January, 2012
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A New Agenda for the ASEAN Regional Forum
15 July, 2002
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WP188 | Informal Caucuses within the WTO:Singapore in the "Invisibles Group"
26 November, 2009
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WP145 | New Security Dimensions in the Asia Pacific
29 October, 2007
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WP094 | The East Asian Experience:The Poverty of “Picking Winners”
01 December, 2005
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WP033 | Islam and Society in Southeast Asia after September 11
01 September, 2002
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WP018 | Asian Developing Countries and the Next Round of WTO Negotiations
01 October, 2001
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Advancing the ASEAN Economic Community: More Trade, Digitalisation and Sustainability
08 November, 2022
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Preacher and Protests: Islam's Conservative Shift in Indonesia
27 May, 2022
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Indo-Pacific or Asia-Pacific: Forging a New Power Balance?
11 February, 2022
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Singapore-Indonesia Ties: Renewed Deal for A New Age
26 January, 2022
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FPDA@50: Growing Relevance Amid Regional Flux
18 November, 2021
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ASEAN’s Economic Priorities Post-COVID-19
26 October, 2021
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ASEAN’s Myanmar Snub
20 October, 2021
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Towards ICCS 2022 - Inter-Religious Dialogue: Catholic Social Teachings and Cohesion
02 September, 2021
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Price Of Political Will: The Fall of Two Regimes
20 August, 2021
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ASEAN’s Myanmar Dilemma
24 May, 2021
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Human Rights: ASEAN’s Changing Perspectives
22 September, 2020
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Indonesian Presidential Election 2019 - Another Term for Jokowi: Some Significant Developments
26 April, 2019
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Trump-Kim Summit II: Challenges of Nuclear Issues to Regional Peace
25 February, 2019
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CO17145 | Is ASEAN a Community?
02 August, 2017
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CO16301 | Singapore’s Landscape of Religious Freedom: Hard-won, Constant Nurturing Needed
13 December, 2016
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CO16260 | Globalisation Under Pressure: International Trade Suffers
18 October, 2016
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CO16230 | Remembering SR Nathan: The MFA Years
16 September, 2016
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CO16179 | Rising China Confronts Maritime Southeast Asia
15 July, 2016
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CO16145 | President Duterte: A Different Philippine Leader
14 June, 2016
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CO16072 | Challenge of Contemporary Terrorism: Tackling Roots via Education
05 April, 2016
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CO16068 | Safety First in Managing Airspace
29 March, 2016
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CO16009 | Jakarta Terrorist Attacks: The Threat From The Islamic State
19 January, 2016
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CO15233 | South China Sea Series - South China Sea Tensions: Unlikely to Lead to War
03 November, 2015
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CO15216 | Challenging Times in Singapore-Indonesia Relations
14 October, 2015
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CO15180 | China’s Conflicting Signals on the South China Sea
24 August, 2015
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C015167 | ASEAN’s New Era: Challenges Amid Growing Cooperation
11 August, 2015
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CO15130 | From Scarcity to Plenty: The Geopolitics of a World Awash in Oil
03 June, 2015
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CO15083 | Lee Kuan Yew and Suharto: How Mutual Trust Fostered Bilateral Ties
08 April, 2015
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CO15059 | Towards Closer ASEAN-Latin American Ties
19 March, 2015
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CO15046 | ASEAN Integration Remains an Illusion
05 March, 2015
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CO14217 | Yasukuni Shrine and Museum: Japan’s WW2 Responsibility
05 November, 2014
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CO14186 | US air campaign against ISIS: A more balanced pivot to East Asia?
19 September, 2014
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CO14155 | Has Global Finance Finally Been Tamed?
04 August, 2014
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CO14138 | Japan’s Rising Security Challenges
14 July, 2014
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CO14112 | A New Cold War?
11 June, 2014
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CO13226 | Energy Security: Southeast Asia Revives Nuclear Power Plans
11 December, 2013
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CO13205 | Indonesia's 2014 Elections: Will Suharto's Enduring Legacy Last?
05 November, 2013
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CO13161 | The Rising Challenge of Food Security
29 August, 2013
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CO13120 | As Asia Rises, New Challenges Emerge
01 July, 2013
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CO13105 | New Energy Dynamics in a Changing World
30 May, 2013
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CO13049 | Global Risk from Trade Wars: Time to Return to WTO
01 April, 2013
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CO12216 | Defusing Tensions in the South China Sea
03 December, 2012
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CO12197 | Can Europe Prevent Asia's Rise?
22 October, 2012
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CO12109 | The G20 Summit: A Wasted Opportunity in Mexico
25 June, 2012
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CO11142 | Responsibility to Protect: Tensions between Sovereignty and Security
06 October, 2011
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CO11053 | Nuclear Power After Fukushima
06 April, 2011
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CO11014 | Egypt's Youth Uprising: Its Global Dimensions
10 February, 2011
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CO10171 | Time for Rethink: Need to Refocus on WTO
15 December, 2010
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CO10136 | The G20 : Should Europe Give Way to Asia?
29 October, 2010
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CO10132 | ASEAN Plus Eight Defence Cooperation: Rise of a New Player
15 October, 2010
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CO10125 | Is Indonesia Outgrowing ASEAN?
29 September, 2010
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CO10068 | New Directions for ASEAN
23 June, 2010
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CO09111 | APEC at 20: Old Promises, New Challenges
11 November, 2009
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CO09093 | Imagining the Future: The World in 2020
16 September, 2009
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CO09046 | Is Mas Salamat a Rambo?
13 May, 2009
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CO09023 | Global Crisis and Climate Change: Will Recession Undermine Climate Change Negotiations?
04 March, 2009
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CO09010 | Priorities for the Obama Administration
23 January, 2009
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CO08133 | Towards a Pacific Century: The East Asian Capitalist Model and Free Trade
15 December, 2008
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CO08115 | Global Recession, Global Warming: Will Climate Change Negotiations Slow Down?
28 October, 2008
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CO08104 | Russia and the Return of History
26 September, 2008
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CO08077 | Is the ASEAN Charter Necessary?
17 July, 2008
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CO08071 | Why War is Unlikely in Asia
27 June, 2008
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CO08019 | Trends in Airpower Modernisation in the Asia Pacific Region
25 February, 2008
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CO07109 | ASEAN: Act on Climate Change
15 October, 2007
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CO07104 | ASEAN: Time to Suspend Myanmar
04 October, 2007
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CO07095 | Why APEC Needs Results in Sydney
07 September, 2007
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CO06065 | Is the ARF Obsolete? Three Moves to Avoid Irrelevance
20 July, 2006
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CO06057 | Time for a ‘Plan B’ for the WTO? Or How to Rescue the Doha Round
22 June, 2006
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CO05074 | Doha and Globalisation’s Missing Middle
25 October, 2005
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CO05010 | Protecting the Malacca Straits
03 March, 2005
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CO04061 | Why East Asia is Negotiating FTAs
03 December, 2004
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CO04041 | The SAF’s Next Challenge
10 September, 2004
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CO02026 | After Bali, Will Indonesia Act?
29 October, 2002
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CO02014 | Islam and Society in Southeast Asia After 9-11
10 September, 2002
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CO01002 | The Future of the ASEAN Regional Forum
01 October, 2001
Books
Monographs
Working Papers
Commentaries
External Publications
Journal Articles
- Desker, Barry, Sarah Teo and Dylan Loh. "The ASEAN Regional Forum and its continued relevance." New Zealand International Review 40, no. 4 (2015): 17-20.
- “Why War is Unlikely in Asia: Facing the Challenge from China” (with Barry Desker), Survival, November-December 2008
Chapters in Edited Books
- “Between the Eagle and the Panda: ASEAN’s Perspectives on Human Rights” in Jörn Dosch and Frederick Kliem, The Elgar Companion to ASEAN. : Elgar Online, 2023, pp. 122-135
- “Re-examining the Human Rights Issue in ASEAN” in Lawrence Anderson, Beyond the Handshake: Singapore’s Foreign Service. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 2023, 143-152
- “A Narrow Escape in Bali” in K P Menon, Footprints on Foreign Shores: Tales Told by Foreign Service Officers . : Graceworks , 2022, pp. 1-8
- Osman, Mohamed Nawab Mohamed and Barry Desker. “Mr S Rajaratnam and the Making of Singapore’s Foreign Policy” in Kwa Chong Guan (ed), S Rajaratnam on Singapore: From Ideas to Reality. Singapore: World Scientific Pte Ltd, 2006.
Working Papers
Op-Eds
- “Preacher and Protests – What’s Driving Islam’s Conservative Shift in Indonesia”, The Straits Times, 26 May 2022
- “Rebuilding Asean Economies in a Post-Covid-19 World”, The Straits Times, 26 October 2021
- “ASEAN’s Myanmar Dilemma”, East Asia Forum, 23 May 2021
- Desker, Barry. “Why the Past Matters,” The Straits Times, February 14, 2014. http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/kri-usman-harun-issue-why-past-matters.
Last updated on 17/08/2022