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  • Home
  • About RSIS
      • Introduction
      • Building the Foundations
      • Welcome Message
      • Board of Governors
      • Staff Profiles
        • Executive Deputy Chairman’s Office
        • Dean’s Office
        • Management
        • Distinguished Fellows
        • Faculty and Research
        • Associate Research Fellows, Senior Analysts and Research Analysts
        • Visiting Fellows
        • Adjunct Fellows
        • Administrative Staff
      • Honours and Awards for RSIS Staff and Students
      • RSIS Endowment Fund
      • Endowed Professorships
      • Career Opportunities
      • Getting to RSIS
  • Research
      • Research Centres
        • Centre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS)
        • Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre)
        • Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS)
        • Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)
        • International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
      • Research Programmes
        • National Security Studies Programme (NSSP)
        • Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme
      • Future Issues and Technology Cluster
      • [email protected] Newsletter
      • Other Research
        • Science and Technology Studies Programme (STSP) (2017-2020)
  • Graduate Education
      • Graduate Programmes Office
      • Overview
      • MSc (Asian Studies)
      • MSc (International Political Economy)
      • MSc (International Relations)
      • MSc (Strategic Studies)
      • NTU-Warwick Double Masters Programme
      • PhD Programme
      • Exchange Partners and Programmes
      • How to Apply
      • Financial Assistance
      • Meet the Admissions Team: Information Sessions and other events
      • RSIS Alumni
  • Alumni & Networks
      • Alumni
      • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO)
      • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)
      • International Strategy Forum-Asia (ISF-Asia)
      • SRP Executive Programme
      • Terrorism Analyst Training Course (TATC)
  • Publications
      • RSIS Publications
        • Annual Reviews
        • Books
        • Bulletins and Newsletters
        • Commentaries
        • Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
        • Commemorative / Event Reports
        • IDSS Paper
        • Interreligious Relations
        • Monographs
        • NTS Insight
        • Policy Reports
        • Working Papers
        • RSIS Publications for the Year
      • Glossary of Abbreviations
      • External Publications
        • Authored Books
        • Journal Articles
        • Edited Books
        • Chapters in Edited Books
        • Policy Reports
        • Working Papers
        • Op-Eds
        • External Publications for the Year
      • Policy-relevant Articles Given RSIS Award
  • Media
      • Great Powers
      • Sustainable Security
      • Other Resource Pages
      • Media Highlights
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    S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Think Tank and Graduate School Ponder The Improbable Since 1966
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    • RSIS
    • About RSIS
    • Staff Profile
    • Barry Desker
    • Executive Deputy Chairman’s Office
    • Dean’s Office
    • Management
    • Distinguished Fellows
    • Faculty and Research
    • Associate Research Fellows, Senior Analysts and Research Analysts
    • Visiting Fellows
    • Adjunct Fellows
    • Administrative Staff

    Mr Barry Desker

    Distinguished Fellow, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS)
    Nanyang Professor of Practice, Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
    Education
    BA Hons (University of Singapore); MA (London); D. Litt (Warwick); LLD (Exeter)
    : [email protected]
    : +65 6790 5981
    : RSIS
    Advancing the ASEAN Economic Community: More Trade, Digitalisation and Sustainability
    Commentaries

    Mr Barry Desker

    Distinguished Fellow, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS)
    Nanyang Professor of Practice, Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
    Education
    BA Hons (University of Singapore); MA (London); D. Litt (Warwick); LLD (Exeter)
    : [email protected]
    : +65 6790 5981
    : RSIS

    Following links control the content below

    • Biography
    • Areas of Expertise
    • Professional Activities
    • RSIS Publications
    • External Publications
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    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.

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    Areas of Expertise

    • WTO
    • Terrorism and civil conflict in Asia
    • Regional economic and security issues

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    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
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    RSIS Publications

      Books

      • Perspectives on the Security of Singapore: The First 50 Years

        06 August, 2015

      • Goh Keng Swee: A Public Career Remembered

        01 January, 2012

      Monographs

      • A New Agenda for the ASEAN Regional Forum

        15 July, 2002

      Working Papers

      • WP188 | Informal Caucuses within the WTO:Singapore in the "Invisibles Group"

        26 November, 2009

      • WP145 | New Security Dimensions in the Asia Pacific

        29 October, 2007

      • WP094 | The East Asian Experience:The Poverty of “Picking Winners”

        01 December, 2005

      • WP033 | Islam and Society in Southeast Asia after September 11

        01 September, 2002

      • WP018 | Asian Developing Countries and the Next Round of WTO Negotiations

        01 October, 2001

      Commentaries

      • Advancing the ASEAN Economic Community: More Trade, Digitalisation and Sustainability

        08 November, 2022

      • Preacher and Protests: Islam's Conservative Shift in Indonesia

        27 May, 2022

      • Indo-Pacific or Asia-Pacific: Forging a New Power Balance?

        11 February, 2022

      • Singapore-Indonesia Ties: Renewed Deal for A New Age

        26 January, 2022

      • [email protected]: Growing Relevance Amid Regional Flux

        18 November, 2021

      • ASEAN’s Economic Priorities Post-COVID-19

        26 October, 2021

      • ASEAN’s Myanmar Snub

        20 October, 2021

      • Towards ICCS 2022 - Inter-Religious Dialogue: Catholic Social Teachings and Cohesion

        02 September, 2021

      • Price Of Political Will: The Fall of Two Regimes

        20 August, 2021

      • ASEAN’s Myanmar Dilemma

        24 May, 2021

      • Human Rights: ASEAN’s Changing Perspectives

        22 September, 2020

      • Indonesian Presidential Election 2019 - Another Term for Jokowi: Some Significant Developments

        26 April, 2019

      • Trump-Kim Summit II: Challenges of Nuclear Issues to Regional Peace

        25 February, 2019

      • CO17145 | Is ASEAN a Community?

        02 August, 2017

      • CO16301 | Singapore’s Landscape of Religious Freedom: Hard-won, Constant Nurturing Needed

        13 December, 2016

      • CO16260 | Globalisation Under Pressure: International Trade Suffers

        18 October, 2016

      • CO16230 | Remembering SR Nathan: The MFA Years

        16 September, 2016

      • CO16179 | Rising China Confronts Maritime Southeast Asia

        15 July, 2016

      • CO16145 | President Duterte: A Different Philippine Leader

        14 June, 2016

      • CO16072 | Challenge of Contemporary Terrorism: Tackling Roots via Education

        05 April, 2016

      • CO16068 | Safety First in Managing Airspace

        29 March, 2016

      • CO16009 | Jakarta Terrorist Attacks: The Threat From The Islamic State

        19 January, 2016

      • CO15233 | South China Sea Series - South China Sea Tensions: Unlikely to Lead to War

        03 November, 2015

      • CO15216 | Challenging Times in Singapore-Indonesia Relations

        14 October, 2015

      • CO15180 | China’s Conflicting Signals on the South China Sea

        24 August, 2015

      • C015167 | ASEAN’s New Era: Challenges Amid Growing Cooperation

        11 August, 2015

      • CO15130 | From Scarcity to Plenty: The Geopolitics of a World Awash in Oil

        03 June, 2015

      • CO15083 | Lee Kuan Yew and Suharto: How Mutual Trust Fostered Bilateral Ties

        08 April, 2015

      • CO15059 | Towards Closer ASEAN-Latin American Ties

        19 March, 2015

      • CO15046 | ASEAN Integration Remains an Illusion

        05 March, 2015

      • CO14217 | Yasukuni Shrine and Museum: Japan’s WW2 Responsibility

        05 November, 2014

      • CO14186 | US air campaign against ISIS: A more balanced pivot to East Asia?

        19 September, 2014

      • CO14155 | Has Global Finance Finally Been Tamed?

        04 August, 2014

      • CO14138 | Japan’s Rising Security Challenges

        14 July, 2014

      • CO14112 | A New Cold War?

        11 June, 2014

      • CO13226 | Energy Security: Southeast Asia Revives Nuclear Power Plans

        11 December, 2013

      • CO13205 | Indonesia's 2014 Elections: Will Suharto's Enduring Legacy Last?

        05 November, 2013

      • CO13161 | The Rising Challenge of Food Security

        29 August, 2013

      • CO13120 | As Asia Rises, New Challenges Emerge

        01 July, 2013

      • CO13105 | New Energy Dynamics in a Changing World

        30 May, 2013

      • CO13049 | Global Risk from Trade Wars: Time to Return to WTO

        01 April, 2013

      • CO12216 | Defusing Tensions in the South China Sea

        03 December, 2012

      • CO12197 | Can Europe Prevent Asia's Rise?

        22 October, 2012

      • CO12109 | The G20 Summit: A Wasted Opportunity in Mexico

        25 June, 2012

      • CO11142 | Responsibility to Protect: Tensions between Sovereignty and Security

        06 October, 2011

      • CO11053 | Nuclear Power After Fukushima

        06 April, 2011

      • CO11014 | Egypt's Youth Uprising: Its Global Dimensions

        10 February, 2011

      • CO10171 | Time for Rethink: Need to Refocus on WTO

        15 December, 2010

      • CO10136 | The G20 : Should Europe Give Way to Asia?

        29 October, 2010

      • CO10132 | ASEAN Plus Eight Defence Cooperation: Rise of a New Player

        15 October, 2010

      • CO10125 | Is Indonesia Outgrowing ASEAN?

        29 September, 2010

      • CO10068 | New Directions for ASEAN

        23 June, 2010

      • CO09111 | APEC at 20: Old Promises, New Challenges

        11 November, 2009

      • CO09093 | Imagining the Future: The World in 2020

        16 September, 2009

      • CO09046 | Is Mas Salamat a Rambo?

        13 May, 2009

      • CO09023 | Global Crisis and Climate Change: Will Recession Undermine Climate Change Negotiations?

        04 March, 2009

      • CO09010 | Priorities for the Obama Administration

        23 January, 2009

      • CO08133 | Towards a Pacific Century: The East Asian Capitalist Model and Free Trade

        15 December, 2008

      • CO08115 | Global Recession, Global Warming: Will Climate Change Negotiations Slow Down?

        28 October, 2008

      • CO08104 | Russia and the Return of History

        26 September, 2008

      • CO08077 | Is the ASEAN Charter Necessary?

        17 July, 2008

      • CO08071 | Why War is Unlikely in Asia

        27 June, 2008

      • CO08019 | Trends in Airpower Modernisation in the Asia Pacific Region

        25 February, 2008

      • CO07109 | ASEAN: Act on Climate Change

        15 October, 2007

      • CO07104 | ASEAN: Time to Suspend Myanmar

        04 October, 2007

      • CO07095 | Why APEC Needs Results in Sydney

        07 September, 2007

      • CO06065 | Is the ARF Obsolete? Three Moves to Avoid Irrelevance

        20 July, 2006

      • CO06057 | Time for a ‘Plan B’ for the WTO? Or How to Rescue the Doha Round

        22 June, 2006

      • CO05074 | Doha and Globalisation’s Missing Middle

        25 October, 2005

      • CO05010 | Protecting the Malacca Straits

        03 March, 2005

      • CO04061 | Why East Asia is Negotiating FTAs

        03 December, 2004

      • CO04041 | The SAF’s Next Challenge

        10 September, 2004

      • CO02026 | After Bali, Will Indonesia Act?

        29 October, 2002

      • CO02014 | Islam and Society in Southeast Asia After 9-11

        10 September, 2002

      • CO01002 | The Future of the ASEAN Regional Forum

        01 October, 2001

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    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

    • 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

    • Barry Desker. “Against All Odds: Singapore's Successful Lobbying on the Cambodia Issue at the United Nations,” Occasional Paper, No. 97, ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute, 2016

    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

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