Kwa Chong Guan is Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He joined its Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies at its inception in 1996 as Head of External Relations, coordinating and growing the Institute’s networking with other policy institutions in the region. As Senior Fellow, he continues to support a series of regional security projects with other regional institutions. These range from maritime security to non-traditional security issues of energy security, cybersecurity, nuclear energy safety and security and biosecurity.

He is Co-Chair of the Singapore Member Committee of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific and in that capacity was elected the ASEAN Co-Chair of CSCAP for 2011-2013. He has co-chaired several of the Council’s Working and Study Groups and drafting of its Memorandums. Kwa is the RSIS Board Member of the “China-Southeast Asia Research Centre on the South China Sea” which brings together six Southeast Asian policy institutes to work with the China’s “National Institute for South China Sea Studies.”

He was previously Head of the old Department of Strategic Studies at the SAFTI Military Institute where he taught military history and strategic studies while concurrently teaching history at the School of Arts at the National Institute of Education. He began his career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before being assigned to the Ministry of Defence and later, the Ministry of Information and the Arts to reorganise and restructure the old National Museum and National Archives.

The conceptual underpinnings of Kwa’s work are the interstices of history, security studies and international relations of Southeast Asia. At RSIS, he works on a range of regional security issues with a focus on the implicit narratives underlying our framing of regional security. At the History Department of the National University of Singapore and at the Archaeological Unit at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, he is interested in issues in the long cycles and deep history of Southeast Asian history.

• Track-2 Diplomacy in the Asia Pacific
• Maritime Security
• Risk and Crisis Management

• Adjunct Associate Professor (Hon.) National University of Singapore
• Associate Fellow, Temasek History Research Centre, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute
• Chair, National Library Acquisition Committee
• Chair, National Heritage Board Archaeology Advisory Panel

Books

• Goh Keng Swee: A Legacy of Public Service

  01 January, 2012

• Goh Keng Swee: A Public Career Remembered

  01 January, 2012

• S Rajaratnam on Singapore: From Ideas to Reality

  01 December, 2006

Working Papers

• WP243 | Role of Intelligence in International Crisis Management

  23 July, 2012

• WP113 | Rewriting Indonesian History : The Future In Indonesia’s Past

  01 June, 2006

Commentaries

• CO14078 | Time To Think About Nuclear Energy

  23 April, 2014

• CO11038 | A Second Nuclear Age in Asia?

  10 March, 2011

• CO09076 | ASEAN’S Next Challenge: Preventing Incidents at Sea

  30 July, 2009

• CO07008 | ASEAN-CHINA RELATIONS: THE NEXT FIFTEEN YEARS

  07 February, 2007

Authored Books

• William Willetts & The Practice of Asian Art History. Singapore: NUS Musesum, 2020
• Seven Hundred Years: A History of Singapore (with Derek Heng, Peter Borschberg, and Tan Tai Yong). Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2019
• Singapore Chronicles – Pre-Colonial Singapore. Singapore: Institute of Policy Studies and Straits Times Press, 2017
• Singapore: A 700-Year History (with Derek Heng, and Tan Tai Yong). Singapore: The National Archives of Singapore, 2009

Journal Articles

• “Raffles and the Writing of Asia-Centric History: A Review of Syed Hussein Alatas” in Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography 2022, 2021, pp. 116-118
• “War and its Art in Southeast Asia” in Cultural Connections, Vol. 5, 2021, pp. 35-41
• “Kallang Estuary: A 17th Century Port City” in Cultural Connections, Vol. 3, 2018, pp. 15-23
• “Searching for Singapore in Old Maps and Sea Charts” in BiblioAsia, Singapore: National Library Board, Vol. 11, Issue 1, 2015, pp. 50-55
• “Strategische waarschuwing en crisismanagement, Een rol voor postmoderne inlichtingediensten?” in Magazine Nationale Veiligheid en Crisisbeheevsing, No. 6, 2014, pp. 26-27
• “The Singapore Story: The Writing & Rewriting of a History” in The Idea of Singapore, Commentary 22, 2013, pp. 21-27
• “The Evolving Regional Security Architecture and Challenges for Track Two” (with Leela Ponappa) in CSCAP [Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific] Regional Security Outlook 2013, 2013. pp. 52-55
• “Notes on ‘Sketch of the Land round Singapore Harbour, 7 February 1819” in Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society , Vol. 83, Part 1, 2010, pp. 1-7

Edited Books / Special Issues

• 1819 & Before: Singapore’s Pasts. Singapore: ISEAS Publishing, 2021
• A General History of the Chinese in Singapore (with Bak Lim Kua), Eds. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 2019
• Studying Singapore Before 1800 (with Peter Borschberg), Eds. Singapore: NUS Press, 2018
• An Angkor Roundabout: Being a Five-Day Tour of the Main Monuments at Angkor in Cambodia Described in the Order in which they were Built (with Dawn F. Rooney), Eds. Singapore: Southeast Asian Ceramic Society, 2017
• Early Southeast Asia Viewed from India: An Anthology of Articles from the Journal of the Greater India Society. New Delhi: Manohar, 2013
• China-ASEAN Sub-regional Cooperation: Problems, Progress, and Prospect (with Li Mingjiang), Eds. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co., 2011
• Assessing Track-2 Diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific Region: A CSCAP Reader (with Desmond Ball), Eds. Singapore and Canberra: S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and Strategic & Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University , 2010
• Energy Security: Asia Pacific Perspectives (with Virendra Gupta), Eds. New Delhi: Manas Publications/Indian Council for World Affairs, 2010
• Maritime Security in Southeast Asia (with John Skogan), Eds. Abingdon: Routledge, 2007

Chapters in Edited Books

• “East India Companies in the Long Cycles of Asian Maritime Trade” in Stephanie Yeo (Ed.), Encounters & Connected Histories: The East Indies and Singapore 1819. Singapore: National Museum of Singapore, 2020, pp. 59-83
• “Raffles’ Vision for Singapore” in Tommy Koh and Scott Wightman (Eds.), 200 Years of Singapore and the United Kingdom. Singapore: Straits Times Press, 2019, pp. 20-25
• “Remembering, Recording, and Representing the Japanese Occupation of Singapore in Retrospect” in Daniel Schumacher and Stephanie Yeo (Eds.), Exhibiting the Fall of Singapore: Close Readings of a Global Event. Singapore: National Museum of Singapore, 2018, pp. 94-111
• “Postmodern Intelligence: Strategic Warning and Crisis Management” in Floribert Baudet, Eleni Braat, Jeoffrey van Woensel, and Aad Wever (Eds.), Perspectives on Military Intelligence from the First World War to Mali. Hague: Asser Press/Springer, 2017, pp. 97-118
• “The 19th Century ‘Origins’ of Singapore Art” in Patrick D. Flores and Szewee Low (Eds.), Charting Thoughts: Essays on Art in Southeast Asia. Singapore: National Gallery Singapore, 2017, pp. 130-139
• “China, Singapore and the South China Sea: Different Era, Different Visions” in Yang Razali Kassim (Ed.), The South China Sea Disputes: Flashpoints, Turning Points and Trajectories. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co., 2017, pp. 495-499
• “Track Two Diplomacy: The Untiring Relevance of CSCAP” in Alan Chong (Ed.), Forward Engagement; RSIS as a Think Tank of International Studies and Security in the Asia-Pacific. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co., 2017, pp. 81-87
• “The Idea of a Maritime Silk Road: History of an Idea” in Vijay Sakhuja and Jane Chan (Eds.), China’s Maritime Silk Road and Asia. New Delhi: National Maritime Foundation, Vij Books India, 2016, pp. 99-110
• “700 Years of Singapore Dreaming” in H. Koon Wee and Jeremy Chia (Eds.), Singapore Dreaming: Managing Utopia. Singapore: Asian Urban Lab, 2016, pp. 84-102
• “Growing in Strength: Responding to National and Regional Realities” in Judith D'Silva and Eck Kheng Goh, Giving Strength to Our Nation; The SAF and Its People. Singapore: Ministry of Defence, 2015, pp. 35-41
• “Great Peranakans: The Community in the Colonial State” in Alan Chong (Ed.), Great Peranakans: Fifty Remarkable Lives. Singapore: Asian Civilisations Museum, 2015, pp. 16-28
• “Strategic Competition in the Indian Ocean in the Long Time Frame” in Vijay Sakhuja and Raghavendra Mishra (Eds.), Evolving dynamics of the Indian Ocean: Prospects and the Way Forward. New Delhi: National Maritime Foundation/Shipra, 2015, pp. 84-91
• “The Political Dilemmas and Transformation of the Straits-born Chinese Community: The Era of Decolonization” in Leo Suryadinata (Ed.), Peranakan Communities in the Era of Decolonization and Globalization. Singapore: Chinese Heritage Centre/NUS Baba House, 2015, pp. 16-21
• “The Challenge of Strategic Intelligence for the Singapore Armed Forces” in Barry Desker and Ang Cheng Guan (Eds.), Perspectives on the Security of Singapore: The first 50 years. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co., 2015, pp. 87-102
• “The Arrival of the Colonial Powers in Southeast Asia” in C. Uday Bhaskar and Shishir Upadhyaya (Eds.), Furthering Maritime Connectivity: India and Southeast Asia. New Delhi: National Maritime Foundation/Matrix, 2011, pp. 7-21
• “Singapura as a Central Place in Malay History and Identity” in Karl Hack and Jean-Louis Margolin with Karine Delaye (Eds.), Singapore from Temasek to the 21st Century: Reinventing the Global City. Singapore: NUS Press, 2010, pp. 133-154
• “Archival Records in the Writing of Singapore History: A Perspective from the Archives” (with Ho Chi Tim) in Loh Kah Seng and Liew Kai Khiun (Eds.), The Makers and Keepers of Singapore History. Singapore: Ethos Books/Singapore Heritage Society, 2010, pp. 48-66
• “Cooperation and Confidence Building: A Southeast Asian Perspective” in Sam Bateman and Joshua Ho (Eds.), Southeast Asia and the Rise of Chinese and Indian Naval Power: Between Rising Naval Powers. London: Routledge, 2010, pp. 227-231
• “The Colonial State in the Making of a Peranakan Community” in Leo Suryadinata (Ed.), Peranakan Chinese in a Globalizing Southeast Asia. Singapore: Chinese Heritage Society/NUS Baba House, 2010, pp. 50-61
• “Drawing Nature in the East Indies: Framing Farquhar’s Natural History Drawings” in Laura Dozier (Ed.), Natural History Drawings; The Complete William Farquhar Collection, Malay Peninsula 1803-1818. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet / National Museum of Singapore, 2010, pp. 316-327
• “Origins of the Sultan Hussain Ordinance 1904” in Kevin Y.L. Tan and Michael Hor (Eds.), Encounters with Singapore Legal History, Essays in Honour of Geoffrey Wilson Bartholomew. Singapore: Singapore Journal of Legal Studies, 2009, 65-84
• “Redefining the National Museum: New Reflections on Heritage” in Bridget Welsh, James Chin, Arun Mahizhnan and Tan Tarn How (Eds.), Impressions of the Goh Chok Tong Years in Singapore. Singapore: NUS Press / Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy / Institute of Policy Studies, 2009, pp. 479-490
• “The Keystone of World Order” (with Tan See Seng) in Alexander T. J. Lennon (Ed.), What Does the World Want from America? International Perspectives on US Foreign Policy. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2002, pp. 39–49

Working Papers

• The Maritime Silk Road: History of an Idea, Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre Working Paper 23, Singapore, 31 October 2016
• Locating Singapore on the Maritime Silk Road: Evidence from Marine Archaeology, Ninth to Early Nineteenth Century, Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre Working Paper 10, Singapore, 31 December 2012

Op-Eds

• “The Dilemma Facing Public Libraries”, The Straits Times, 14 July 2014