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Foreword
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- By K. Kesavapany, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Barry Desker, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and Nanyang Technological University
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- Book:
- The Five Power Defence Arrangements at Forty
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 21 October 2015
- Print publication:
- 01 November 2011, pp xi-xii
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- Chapter
- Export citation
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Summary
This volume has its genesis in a conference co-organized by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) in March 2011 entitled the “Five Power Defence Arrangements at Forty”. The conference celebrated the FPDA's contribution to regional security over the last four decades and explored its response to changes in the strategic environment.
The FPDA was set up in 1971 at a time of considerable geopolitical uncertainty. It was not just Singapore-Malaysian relations that were touchy at the time, after the Separation of 1965. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was also new, having been established only a few years earlier, and its members were still in the early stages of building confidence to work together to face the common security challenge of the time, namely communism. The war in Vietnam was not going well for the non-communist side, and a US withdrawal seemed inevitable at some point. US President Richard Nixon had already announced the Guam Doctrine in 1969, according to which American involvement in wars on the Asian mainland would be limited to a supportive role while allies and friends would be expected to bear the main burden of defending themselves by providing ground troops.
In 1971, nobody could tell how long the FPDA would last. Sceptics dismissed it as an impotent successor to the Anglo-Malaysian Defence Agreement (AMDA), a mere figleaf to cover the British military withdrawal from the region. They were proved wrong, given the fact that it has lasted 40 years and its five members continue to attest to its ongoing relevance. It has proved to be a valuable confidence-maintaining mechanism and its built-in flexibility allows it to adapt to a changing security environment.
Since its inception in 1971, the FPDA has played a critical confidence- building role in Singapore-Malaysian relations. Before its formation, the Malaysian and Singaporean armed forces had long been comfortable with working with British, Australian and New Zealand forces.
Foreword
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- By Barry Desker, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
- Asad-ul Iqbal Latif
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- Book:
- Between Rising Powers
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 21 October 2015
- Print publication:
- 22 August 2007, pp ix-x
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- Chapter
- Export citation
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Summary
The rise of China and India has become an issue of global significance as we enter the 21st century. Concerns about Malthusian dilemmas, economic stagnation and weak governance of these countries clearly seem to have given way to debates on what the future holds for international politics involving China and India as responsible “stakeholders” of the international system. Singapore, with its pragmatic foreign policy driven by an unsentimental balance of power realism, is one of the most active players in the region trying to engage both powers. Singapore's important role in building stronger ties between the two countries and ASEAN has attracted considerable attention, especially as Singapore has played a major role in promoting preferential trading arrangements (free trade agreements) between ASEAN and both China and India. Singapore's vital role in ASEAN also means that both China and India are striving to have closer working relations with Singapore. This book is therefore an important and timely contribution to the debate on Singapore's emerging relationship with China and India.
Reflecting the title of the book, this work captures the essence of how Singapore is positioning itself between China and India. While Asad notes that Singapore's engagement of China is deeper, longer and more substantial, both New Delhi and Singapore are trying to enhance their relations with each other. The book provides a penetrating analysis of India's attempt to be a major player in the Southeast Asian region. While most academic writings on Singapore's relations with India and China tend to focus on the economic rationale of these relations, this book is one of the first attempts to outline both the political and military/ defence aspects of their relations. Asad argues convincingly that these aspects are equally significant, if not more important than the economic relationship as Southeast Asia could be a theatre of competition between China and India as these two emerging powers expand their spheres of influence. He also predicts that the region could be a theatre for India to evolve new partnerships with China, thereby moving from the post-1962 policy of containment to co-engagement with China. Asad predicts that Singapore's relations with these two emerging powers will have important implications not only for the country but also for the larger ASEAN region.