About the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)

The Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS) was formed as an autonomous research institute within Nanyang Technological University (NTU) on 30 July 1996. It was established to conduct research on geopolitical developments in the Asia Pacific region and promote greater understanding of, and interest in, strategic and defence issues in Singapore and the region. It was inaugurated by Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam, then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence of Singapore.

In 1998, IDSS launched a Master of Science in Strategic Studies.

The late Mr S. R. Nathan was the first Director of IDSS. In August 1999, Mr Nathan stepped down to serve as the sixth President of Singapore. He was succeeded by (then-Deputy Director) Professor Khong Yuen Foong. In October 2000, Ambassador Barry Desker was appointed as Director.

When RSIS was established on 1 January 2007, IDSS remained a security-research focused institute within the school, and the teaching functions were taken over by the school. Today, IDSS is the oldest and largest of the five research centres under RSIS. Ambassador Ong Keng Yong is Director of IDSS, since November 2014, and he is concurrently the Executive Deputy Chairman of RSIS.

IDSS comprises ten research programmes, namely: China, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maritime Security, Military Studies, Military Transformations, Regional Security Architecture, South Asia, and the United States.