Think Tank (4/2023)
HIGHLIGHT
The Inaugural Digital Defence Symposium
17 Jul 2023
The inaugural Digital Defence symposium, co-organised by RSIS and the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) Cybersecurity and Information Centre of Excellence (ACICE), was held on 17 July 2023.
This symposium featured international and Southeast Asian defence, academics, think tanks, and private sector experts who networked and discussed common security challenges. These challenge ...
RECENT BOOKS BY STAFF
Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday Massacre: Lessons for the International Community
Rohan Gunaratna
Radical Islam is an enduring global challenge that presents a national and international security threat. Instigation by hate preachers, inadequate government, societal attention, religious and reciprocal radicalization have allowed this threat to manifest into terrorist violence. Extremist ideologies have infiltrated religious, educational, and digital spaces and thus, terrorism’s shadow continues to shroud the safety and stability of countries and communities worldwide today.
On 21 April 2019, the world’s most dangerous threat movement, the Islamic State, mounted one of its deadliest attacks in Sri Lanka. The surge of fear, suspicion, and prejudice following what is now known as ‘Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday Massacre’ fragmented the country, imbuing hatred and anger against the Muslim community. Years later, the radicalization pipeline remains intact, and the threat persists. With the global expansion of the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, will the world witness attacks of a similar or greater scale in the future?
Equal parts treatise and reference material, Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday Massacre: Lessons for the International Community answers this question by tracing the genesis, threat trajectory, and aftermath of the bombings and the personalities behind them. With unprecedented access to accounts from Islamic State detainees, affected families, intelligence specialists, and investigators, the book reflects on lessons learned and provides insight into how such attacks are organized and what measures can be taken to prevent or respond to these threats effectively.
A House Divided? Prospects and Challenges for ASEAN Unity in an Era of Regional and Global Crises
11 Aug 2023
The S. T. Lee Distinguished Annual Lecture by Professor David Cohen, Visiting Senior Fellow, RSIS, was held on 11 August 2023. The lecture was titled “A House Divided? Prospects and Challenges for ASEAN Unity in an Era of Regional and Global Crises,” and was moderated by Ambassador Ong Keng Yo ...
Overconfidence and the Russia-Ukraine War
28 Aug 2023
The RSIS Distinguished Public Lecture by Professor Dominic Johnson, S. Rajaratnam Professor of Strategic Studies, RSIS; and Alastair Buchan Professor of International Relations and Fellow, St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford, United Kingdom; was held on 28 August 2023. Professor Kumar R ...
Terrorism Analyst Training Course 2023
24 Jul 2023
The International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR) hosted its 15th Terrorism Analyst Training Course (TATC) from 24-28 July 2023 at the York Hotel, Singapore. As the Centre’s principal capacity-building programme, TATC seeks to provide the latest analyse ...
RSIS Day 2023
27 Jul 2023
Held annually, RSIS Day brings together the RSIS family to interact on an informal basis. This year, RSIS celebrates 27 years.
More than 200 staff and students gathered on 27 July 2023 to celebrate this special occasion. Dean Kumar Ramakrishna gave a speech, reminiscing on the decades t ...
ASEAN Strategic Policy Dialogue on Disaster Management (SPDDM) 2023
24 Aug 2023
This year’s ASEAN Strategic Policy on Disaster Management (SPDDM) was held on 24 August 2023, under the theme “Disaster Resilience: Understanding What Lies Ahead”. It was the concluding event of the inaugural ASEAN Disaster Management Week (ADMW) 2023. The event was organised by The ASEAN Secr ...
Chile-Southeast Asia Relations: Fulfilling Opportunities
15 Aug 2023
RSIS and the Embassy of Chile co-organised a public lecture titled “Chile-Southeast Asia Relations: Fulfilling Opportunities” on 15 August 2023. Ambassador Alex Wetzig Abdale, Secretary General for Foreign Policy of Chile, began the lecture by noting that global events such as rising US-China ...
Malaysia’s State Elections
19 Aug 2023
Malaysia’s Upcoming State Elections: Issues, Players, and Potential Outcomes
Malaysia held elections in six states on 12 August 2023. While state elections generally address state and local issues, these elections were widely touted as a barometer of public sentiment t ...
RSIS Distinguished Book Launch of “Singapore is Still not an Island” by Mr Bilahari Kausikan
20 Jul 2023
RSIS held a Distinguished Book Launch of “Singapore is Still not an Island” by Mr Bilahari Kausikan, current Chairman of the Middle East Institute and former Ambassador to the Russian Federation, on 20 July 2023. During his 37 years in the Ministry, Mr Kausikan served in a variety of appointme ...
The Ukraine War and International Order in a Time of Global Power Shifts
04 Aug 2023
On 4 August 2023, the South Asia Programme at RSIS hosted Dr Rohan Mukherjee, Assistant Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Dr Mukherjee gave a public lecture situating the responses of Global South countries and Western nations to the Ukraine War, against histor ...
The Future of Nuclear Energy in the Asia-Pacific
02 Aug 2023
The Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies at RSIS and Pacific Forum co-chaired the annual meeting of the CSCAP-Nuclear Energy Experts Group from 2 to 3 August 2023. Around 40 participants from Asia-Pacific countries discussed key nuclear governance issues related to nuclear energy and th ...
International Strategy Forum-Asia 2023
31 Jul 2023
RSIS partnered Schmidt Futures for the 2nd edition of the International Strategy Forum-Asia (ISF-Asia). RSIS and Schmidt Futures provided 22 Fellows, from 11 countries, a platform for discussing a range of key global issues today, spanning topics at the intersection of emerging technology and ...
Cislunar Space Explorations, Space Sustainability, and Space Security – A Webinar Series
27 Jul 2023
The Future Issues and Technology (FIT) Cluster conducted three webinars on 25 May, 22 June, and 27 July 2023. They were “Fly Me to the Moon: Opportunities and Challenges in Cislunar Space and the Moon,” “Ensuring Safe and Sustainable Access to Space: Managing an Increasingly Congested Orbital ...
The Dragon Roars Back: Transformational Leaders and Dynamics of Chinese Foreign Policy
27 Jul 2023
RSIS hosted a seminar titled “The Dragon Roars Back: Transformational Leaders and Dynamics of Chinese Foreign Policy” on 27 July 2023. The seminar was chaired by Dr Li Mingjiang, Associate Professor and Provost’s Chair in International Relations at RSIS. The speaker, Dr Zhao Suisheng, is Profe ...
Outsourcing Repression: Everyday State Power in Contemporary China
26 Jul 2023
RSIS hosted a seminar on “Outsourcing Repression: Everyday State Power in Contemporary China” on 26 July 2023. The seminar was chaired by Dr Stefanie Kam, Assistant Professor at the China Programme, IDSS. The speaker, Dr Lynette Ong, is Professor of Political Science at the Munk School of Glob ...
The 11th Regional Maritime Security Practitioner Programme
17 Jul 2023
The 11th Regional MARSEC Practitioner Programme (RMPP) brought together 119 MARSEC practitioners from 28 countries representing regional and extra-regional navies, coastguards, maritime and enforcement agencies, and the shipping community to enhance appreciation of the MARSEC environment and f ...
Preparing for Crises and Disruptions
13 Jul 2023
The Singapore Universities’ National Security Forum 2023 was held on 13 July 2023 at the Singapore Management University (SMU). The forum was jointly organised by RSIS’ National Security Studies Programme (NSSP) and SMU’s Apolitical Society, co-organised by the Singapore University of Social S ...
The Quad: Opportunities to Advance Shared Goals at the Crossroads of the Indo-Pacific
10 Jul 2023
RSIS joined the Near East South Asia (NESA) Centre for Strategic Studies and Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies to host a conference titled “The Quad: Opportunities to Advance Shared Goals at the Crossroads of the Indo-Pacific.” Held from 10 to 12 July 2023, thi ...
Seminars by Dr Duvvuri Subbarao
03 Jul 2023
Dr Duvvuri Subbarao, former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, and Visiting Senior Fellow at RSIS, gave two seminars titled “Digital Technology Driven Financial Inclusion: Has India Discovered the Holy Grail?” on 3 July 2023 and “India’s Growing North-South Divide – Real or Just a Pe ...
Power, Ideas, and International Orders: Contrasting the Classical Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean
05 Jul 2023
On 5 July 2023, the South Asia Programme at RSIS hosted Dr Manjeet Pardesi, Associate Professor at the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Dr Pardesi gave a public lecture comparing the classical Greco-Roman Mediterranean and the eastern Indian Ocean region’s impact on theorising ...
Contemporary Geopolitical Challenges and International Law
27 Jun 2023
The Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS) hosted a seminar by Ian Park, a Captain in the UK Royal Navy, and a barrister, on 27 June 2023. Park has served in seven ships and deployed worldwide in support of the Royal Navy’s contribution to defence. He has also been deployed as a leg ...
Air Operations in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief in the Indo-Pacific
27 Jun 2023
The Embassy of France and RSIS co-organised a seminar which took place on 27 June 2023, on the occasion of the PEGASE 2023 mission visit to Singapore. The seminar was titled “Air Operations in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief in the Indo-Pacific”. As Humanitarian Assistance and Disa ...
Soft Power, Islam, and Religiosity – Glocalisation of Islam in Southeast Asia
28 Jun 2023
The Studies in Interreligious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme held a webinar titled “Soft Power, Islam, and Religiosity – Glocalisation of Islam in Southeast Asia” on 28 June 2023. The webinar is the second in a series which attempts to understand religious soft power projects by ...
Most Read RSIS Policy Reports
28 Jun 2024
The Policy Reports offer the reader with policy recommendations for various levels – from policymakers and decision-makers in governments, to international organisations, academic institutions, think tanks, civil societies, commercial sectors, and the media.