THINK TANK
Think Tank (6/2020)
HIGHLIGHT
The Indo-Pacific: Geostrategic Challenges and Opportunities for Germany and Singapore

The German political foundation Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and RSIS jointly hosted a ministerial forum titled “The Indo-Pacific: Geostrategic Challenges and Opportunities for Germany and Singapore” on 13 November 2020. During the forum, German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer exchanged views with her Singaporean counterpart Dr Ng Eng Hen on international security, in particular, t ...

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RECENT BOOKS BY STAFF
Disinformation and Fake News

This book is a collection of chapters penned by practitioners from around the world on the impact that disinformation and fake news has had in both the online and social sphere.

While much has been said about individual disinformation campaigns in specific countries, this book offers a ...

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Life and Work in Post-Soviet Russia

Life and Work in Post-Soviet Russia revolves around the professional and personal experience of living and working in Moscow of a Singapore diplomat, beginning in the aftermath of the USSR’s collapse and ending in the first decade-and-a-half of this century.

The book seeks ...

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Buddhist Literature as Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy as Literature

Can literature reveal reality? Is philosophical truth a literary artifice? How does the way we think affect what we can know? Buddhism has been grappling with these questions for centuries, and this book attempts to answer them by exploring the relationship between literat ...

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Reconstructing Japan’s Security: The Role of Military Crises

Systematically analyses the impact of external military crises on Japanese security policy expansion in the post-Cold War period. Focuses on the widening of Japan’s security posture in external security affairs and investigates the causes of this critical change Identifies the external m ...

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The US Presidential Election and the Implication for the Situation in East Asia
On 3 December 2020, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) from Indonesia, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) from Japan, and RSIS held a joint webinar on the topic “The US Presidential Election and the Implication for the Situation in East Asia”. ...
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Europe in the Indo-Pacific: Middle Power Patchwork or a Common European Strategy?
On 10 November 2020, the Centre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS), RSIS, hosted a panel webinar on European initiatives and involvement in the Indo-Pacific. Despite the Indo-Pacific being a region of significant interest to Europe, the panellists noted that expectations for greater hard-power ...
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CSCAP Nuclear Energy Experts Group Virtual Meeting
The Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre) at RSIS, representing the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific (CSCAP)(Singapore) and Pacific Forum (US CSCAP), co-organised the virtual meeting of the CSCAP Nuclear Energy Experts Group from 10 to 11 November 2020.
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DRUMS: Distortions, Rumours, Untruths, Misinformation & Smears
The Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS) at RSIS organised their fourth annual workshop on “DRUMS: Distortions, Rumours, Untruths, Misinformation & Smears” as a three-part webinar series on 1, 2 and 4 December 2020. The webinar series explored trends and iss ...
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Regional Multilateralism in Uncertain Times: Past, Present, and Future
A virtual workshop on “Regional Multilateralism in Uncertain Times: Past, Present, and Future” was organised by the Regional Security Architecture Programme of RSIS on 10 and 11 December 2020. Prof Ralf Emmers, Dean of RSIS, delivered the opening remarks to more than 40 participants comprising ...
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Does the US Need a New Security Framework/Architecture for Renewed Great Power Rivalry?
On 26 November 2020, Dr Adam Garfinkle, founding editor of The American Interest and RSIS Distinguished Visiting Fellow, presented a webinar titled “Does the US Need a New Security Framework/Architecture for Renewed Great Power Rivalry?” Opposing this notion, Dr Garfinkle argue ...
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Middle-Power Diplomacy in the New Era of US-China Competition
On 17 November 2020, RSIS and the Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA) jointly hosted a roundtable on “Middle-Power Diplomacy in the New Era of US-China Competition”, with presentations delivered by Assoc Prof Alan Chong, Acting Head, Centre for Multilateralism Studies, RSIS; and Prof Choi ...
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The Courteous Power: Japan and Southeast Asia during the Suga Administration
When Yoshidide Suga recently took over as prime minister of Japan, he tellingly focused his first trip abroad on Southeast Asia. The region has long been crucial to Japan’s foreign policy, and Japan has long been a key external partner to ASEAN and its constitutive states and societies. Japan’ ...
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Implications of the US Withdrawal from Afghanistan
The International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR), RSIS, hosted a webinar on the Implications of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan on 25 November 2020. Speaking at the session were Mr Ahmed Rashid, a renowned journalist and author; Prof Amin Saikal, Adjunct Profe ...
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Perspectives on Identity-Based Extremism in the Indo-Pacific
Identity-based extremism is rooted in the ethno-religious identity of a so-called majority “in-group”, and is often used to justify violence against minority “out-groups”. Asia is no stranger to such forms of extremism with the rise of Buddhist extremist groups in Myanmar and Sri Lanka. In Ind ...
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The Science, Politics and Geopolitics of the COVID-19 Vaccine
On 15 December 2020, the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre) at RSIS hosted a webinar titled “The Science, Politics and Geopolitics of the COVID-19 Vaccine”. The webinar was delivered by Dr Khor Swee Kheng, Visiting Fellow, United Nations University International Institute ...
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Assessing the Role of TNI in Combating COVID-19 in Indonesia
A webinar to assess the impact of COVID-19 on TNI (Indonesian armed forces) military effectiveness and the nature of civil-military relations in Indonesia was held on 1 December 2020. The RSIS webinar looked into how the TNI could help win the fight against a pandemic, how its capability devel ...
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Freedom and Violence
On 16 November 2020, Dr Irm Haleem, Assistant Professor from the Strategic Studies Programme at RSIS, spoke at a webinar on “Freedom and Violence”. She began her talk by pointing out the common assumption that freedom and violence were inextricably linked. She outlined several reasons f ...
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30 Years of Diplomatic Relations between Singapore and China and Reflections on China-Southeast Asia Relations
The Singapore Ministry of Defence, RSIS and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) National Defence University (NDU) co-organised a Track 1.5 virtual workshop on “30 Years of Diplomatic Relations between Singapore and China and Reflections on China-Southeast Asia Relations”, which took place on 21 ...
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Regional Trends in Inter-Religious Relations
On 17 November 2020, the Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme presented their findings on “Regional Trends in Inter-Religious Relations” to an online audience. The presentation marked the culmination of a one-year project to monitor and analyse the trends pe ...
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Saving People or Saving Face? Narratives and the Humanitarian Order in Southeast Asia
On 17 November 2020, the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Programme of the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre) at RSIS hosted a webinar titled “Saving People or Saving Face? Narratives and the Humanitarian Order in Southeast Asia”. The webinar was deliver ...
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Between Ambition and Ambivalence: Australian Diplomacy in an Era of Strategic Change
On 27 October 2020, Prof Caitlin Byrne, Director of Griffith Asia Institute and Faculty Fellow of the University of Southern California’s Centre for Public Diplomacy, delivered a talk at the RSIS Webinar titled “Between Ambition and Ambivalence: Australian Diplomacy in an Era of Strategi ...
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Podcast on US Presidential Election 2020 (Pre-election)
In this pre-election podcast broadcast on 27 October 2020, the United States Programme at RSIS examined the state of the presidential horserace between Joe Biden and Donald Trump and what the election means for Singapore and the region. The programme analysed how different a potential Biden ad ...
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EDITOR
Adrian Chong
CONTRIBUTORS
Abdul Basit
Amalina Abdul Nasir
Christopher Chen
Muhammad Faizal Bin Abdul Rahman
Rueben Ananthan Santhana Dass
Adhi Priamarizki
Amalina Anuar
Irene Chan
Nazia Hussain
Shawn Ho
Adrian Ang U-Jin
Ben Ho
Julius Cesar Imperial Trajano
Nursheila Muez