About the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)

The Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS) was established as an autonomous research institute within Nanyang Technological University (NTU) on 30 July 1996. It was inaugurated by Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam, then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence of Singapore.

IDSS was created to conduct research on geopolitical developments in the Asia Pacific region and to promote greater understanding of, and interest in, strategic and defence issues in Singapore and the region.

The first director of IDSS was the late Mr S. R. Nathan. He also set out to establish IDSS as a graduate education institution by launching its first Master of Science programme in 1998. Mr Nathan stepped down as director of IDSS in August 1999 to serve as the sixth President of Singapore.

Professor Khong Yuen Foong became Acting Director, before Ambassador Barry Desker took over from October 2000.

When RSIS was established on 1 January 2007, IDSS remained a security-research focused institute within the school, and 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 nine research programmes, namely: China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maritime Security, Military Studies, Military Transformations, Regional Security Architecture, South Asia, and the United States. For greater synergy, the China and United States are grouped as the Major Powers, Indonesia and Malaysia are clustered as Malaysia-Indonesia, and Military Transformations along with the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies’ Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief as Emerging Security.