Joel Ng is Research Fellow in the Centre for Multilateralism Studies. His research covers regionalism, norms, and integration in the Global South, focusing on ASEAN and the African Union in particular. He has previously worked in the non-profit and private sectors, working on refugee issues and investor relations respectively. He is the author of Contesting Sovereignty: Power and Practice in Africa and Southeast Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2021). Joel Ng has a DPhil from the University of Oxford, where he was an Oxford-Swire scholar, and also holds a MA (Distinction) from the University of Sussex, and a BA (Hons) from the University of East Anglia

• Norms
• Regional Organizations
• African Union
• ASEAN
• International Humanitarian Law
• Rule of Law & Governance

Commentaries

• Myanmar Instability: Emerging Reactions in East Asia

  19 May, 2021

• ASEAN’s Special Summit: Can It Resolve the Myanmar Crisis?

  29 April, 2021

• Multilateralism in 2021: Better Than 2020?

  08 February, 2021

• ASEAN as Pivotal Actor: Balancing Centrality and the Indo-Pacific

  17 August, 2020

• Global Health Security: COVID-19 and Its Impacts - Race for the Vaccine: Will ASEAN Be Left Behind?

  23 July, 2020

• Global Health Security - Trust During the Time of COVID-19

  18 March, 2020

• Proxies and Drones: Can International Law Handle “Invisible Threats”?

  15 January, 2020

• Evolving Summit Dynamics: ASEAN Putting Its Foot Down?

  06 November, 2019

• The Unlawful Proroguing of UK’s Parliament: Sign of the Times?

  27 September, 2019

• Remembering Robert Mugabe: Hero or Despot?

  11 September, 2019

• US Watch-List For ‘Currency Manipulation’: What Is It?

  30 May, 2019

• Unpacking the “Rules-Based Order”

  12 March, 2019

• Singapore’s ASEAN Chairmanship: Advancing Peace & Security

  16 November, 2018

• CO18167 | Economic Populism: End of The Small State?

  12 October, 2018

• CO18120 | The Quadrilateral Conundrum: Can ASEAN Be Persuaded?

  17 July, 2018

• CO12153 | Great Power Rivalry in Africa: Economic Engagement Holds Key

  14 August, 2012

• CO12114 | The ASEAN Human Rights Declaration: Establishing a Common Framework

  03 July, 2012

• CO12095 | Global Norms in Regional Institutions: Lessons from the African Union and ASEAN

  07 June, 2012

• CO12041 | Kony 2012: Potentials and pitfalls of social media

  13 March, 2012

• CO11172 | China’s Investments in Africa: Need for Governance

  21 November, 2011

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

  06 October, 2011

• CO11040 | The International Criminal Court: Is it a Panacea?

  11 March, 2011

Annual Reviews

• Selected Essays by RSIS Researchers - 2020

  18 January, 2021

Authored Books

• Contesting Sovereignty: Power and Practice in Africa and Southeast Asia. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2021

Journal Articles

• “Contested Norms in Peacekeeping” in Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 11, 3, 2017
• “Rule of Law as a Framework within the ASEAN Community” in Journal of East Asia and International Law, 5, 2, 2012

Edited Books / Special Issues

• Regional Security and Human Rights Interventions: A Global Governance Perspective on the AU and ASEAN (with Andreas O. Stensland and Walter Lotze), Eds. Norway: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), 2012

Chapters in Edited Books

• “Rule of Law as a Framework within the ASEAN Community” in Eric Yong Joong Lee (Ed.), ASEAN International Law. Singapore: Springer, 2022, pp. 161-174
• “The Southeast Asian Dimension: The ASEAN Model of Integration” (with Joseph Liow Chin Yong) in A. Voskressenski & B. Koller (eds.), The Regional World Order: Transregionalism, Regional Integration, and Regional Projects across Europe and Asia. New York: Lexington Books, 2019, pp. 103-122
• “The Socialist Republic of Vietnam” (with Giao Vu Cong) in D. Cohen, K. Tan, & M. Mohan (eds.), Rule of Law for Human Rights in the Asean Region: A Base-line Study. Jakarta: Human Rights Resource Centre , 2011, pp. 281-297
• “The State of Brunei Darussalam” in D. Cohen, K. Tan, & M. Mohan (eds.), Rule of Law for Human Rights in the Asean Region: A Base-line Study. Jakarta: Human Rights Resource Centre , 2011, pp. 33-49

Op-Eds

• “Rules-Based Order? Strengthening Consensus on the Rules and Principles Underpinning the International Order” (with Sarah Teo, and Benjamin Ho), CSCAP Regional Security Outlook 2022, 13 December 2021
• “#BookClub: Contesting Sovereignty in Africa and the Global South”, Democracy In Africa, 2 August 2021
• “Book Review: “Dominic D.P. Johnson, Strategic Instincts: The Advantages of Cognitive Biases in International Politics””, Politics and the Life Sciences, 27 July 2021
• “Can ASEAN Offer a Way Out of the US–China Choice?”, East Asia Forum, 9 April 2021
• “Rules-Based Order? Strengthening consensus on the rules and principles underpinning the international order” (with Sarah Teo, and Benjamin Ho), Asia Link Insights, 1 February 2021
• “Rebuild the UN’s Legitimacy”, Council on Foreign Relations Global Memo, 14 September 2020
• “Nigeria’s Opportunity to Enhance the Continental Free Trade Area” (with Densua Mumford), How we made it in Africa, 19 March 2019
• “Strengthening the Private Sector in African Regional Policy-Making” (with Densua Mumford), How we made it in Africa, 11 April 2018
• “Single Air Transport Market: The Benchmark for African Economic Integration” (with Densua Mumford), How we made it in Africa, 14 February 2018
• “S’pore FTA in Africa a Question of ‘When’, Not ‘If’”, The Business Times, 18 October 2017
• “Africa’s Growing Leverage in Business and Trade Relations” (with Densua Mumford), How we made it in Africa, 8 June 2017
• “The TFTA and Intra-Regional Trade in Africa” (with Densua Mumford), How we made it in Africa, 6 April 2017
• “Will Economic Priorities be the Focus for the Next AU Chairperson?” (with Densua Mumford), How we made it in Africa, 16 February 2017
• “Brexit’s Phoney War”, Today, 4 July 2016
• “Brexit: Asean Comparison Puts Choices in Fresh Light”, The Straits Times, 20 June 2016

• IR6029 – Foreign Policy Analysis