Barry Desker is the Distinguished Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), and Nanyang Professor of Practice, Nanyang Technological University.  He is a Member of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights, Singapore and a Member of the Board of Directors of the Lee Kuan Yew Exchange Fellowship.  He was the Chair of the ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) in 2018.

From 2000 to 2014, he was the Director, Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies and served as founding Dean of RSIS from 2007 to 2014.  He was the Chief Executive Officer of the Singapore Trade Development Board from 1994 to 2000 and Singapore’s Ambassador to Indonesia from 1986 to 1993.

Ambassador Desker served as Singapore’s Non-Resident Ambassador to the Holy See and Spain from 2007 to 2020.

A President’s Scholar, he was educated at the University of Singapore, University of London and Cornell University.  He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Warwick in 2012 and Doctor of Laws by the University of Exeter in 2013.  Ambassador Desker has also been very active in the corporate world serving on the boards of Singaporean and multi-national corporations.

• WTO
• Terrorism and civil conflict in Asia
• Regional economic and security issues

• Member, International Advisory Board, European Centre for International Political Economy (Brussels)
• Deputy Chairman (Asia-Pacific) of the Trilateral Commission
• Patron, Eurasian Association of Singapore
• Singapore’s representative to the Governing Board of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)
• Director of the Cordell Hull Institute (Washington, D.C.)
• Honorary Advisor, UN Association of Singapore
• Member, International Advisory Board, Brenthurst Foundation (South Africa)
• Member, International Advisory Board, Africa Progress Group
• Member of the Editorial Board, The Journal of Strategic Studies

RSIS Commentary Series

• Advancing the ASEAN Economic Community: More Trade, Digitalisation and Sustainability

  08 November, 2022

• Preacher and Protests: Islam's Conservative Shift in Indonesia

  27 May, 2022

• Indo-Pacific or Asia-Pacific: Forging a New Power Balance?

  11 February, 2022

• Singapore-Indonesia Ties: Renewed Deal for A New Age

  26 January, 2022

• FPDA@50: Growing Relevance Amid Regional Flux

  18 November, 2021

• ASEAN’s Economic Priorities Post-COVID-19

  26 October, 2021

• ASEAN’s Myanmar Snub

  20 October, 2021

• Inter-Religious Dialogue: Catholic Social Teachings and Cohesion

  02 September, 2021

• Price Of Political Will: The Fall of Two Regimes

  20 August, 2021

• ASEAN’s Myanmar Dilemma

  24 May, 2021

• Human Rights: ASEAN’s Changing Perspectives

  22 September, 2020

• Another Term for Jokowi: Some Significant Developments

  26 April, 2019

• Trump-Kim Summit II: Challenges of Nuclear Issues to Regional Peace

  25 February, 2019

• CO17145 | Is ASEAN a Community?

  02 August, 2017

• CO16301 | Singapore’s Landscape of Religious Freedom: Hard-won, Constant Nurturing Needed

  13 December, 2016

• CO16260 | Globalisation Under Pressure: International Trade Suffers

  18 October, 2016

• CO16230 | Remembering SR Nathan: The MFA Years

  16 September, 2016

• CO16179 | Rising China Confronts Maritime Southeast Asia

  15 July, 2016

• CO16145 | President Duterte: A Different Philippine Leader

  14 June, 2016

• CO16072 | Challenge of Contemporary Terrorism: Tackling Roots via Education

  05 April, 2016

• CO16068 | Safety First in Managing Airspace

  29 March, 2016

• CO16009 | Jakarta Terrorist Attacks: The Threat From The Islamic State

  19 January, 2016

• CO15233 | South China Sea Tensions: Unlikely to Lead to War

  03 November, 2015

• CO15216 | Challenging Times in Singapore-Indonesia Relations

  14 October, 2015

• CO15180 | China’s Conflicting Signals on the South China Sea

  24 August, 2015

• C015167 | ASEAN’s New Era: Challenges Amid Growing Cooperation

  11 August, 2015

• CO15130 | From Scarcity to Plenty: The Geopolitics of a World Awash in Oil

  03 June, 2015

• CO15083 | Lee Kuan Yew and Suharto: How Mutual Trust Fostered Bilateral Ties

  08 April, 2015

• CO15059 | Towards Closer ASEAN-Latin American Ties

  19 March, 2015

• CO15046 | ASEAN Integration Remains an Illusion

  05 March, 2015

• CO14217 | Yasukuni Shrine and Museum: Japan’s WW2 Responsibility

  05 November, 2014

• CO14186 | US air campaign against ISIS: A more balanced pivot to East Asia?

  19 September, 2014

• CO14155 | Has Global Finance Finally Been Tamed?

  04 August, 2014

• CO14138 | Japan’s Rising Security Challenges

  14 July, 2014

• CO14112 | A New Cold War?

  11 June, 2014

• CO13226 | Energy Security: Southeast Asia Revives Nuclear Power Plans

  11 December, 2013

• CO13205 | Indonesia's 2014 Elections: Will Suharto's Enduring Legacy Last?

  05 November, 2013

• CO13161 | The Rising Challenge of Food Security

  29 August, 2013

• CO13120 | As Asia Rises, New Challenges Emerge

  01 July, 2013

• CO13105 | New Energy Dynamics in a Changing World

  30 May, 2013

• CO13049 | Global Risk from Trade Wars: Time to Return to WTO

  01 April, 2013

• CO12216 | Defusing Tensions in the South China Sea

  03 December, 2012

• CO12197 | Can Europe Prevent Asia's Rise?

  22 October, 2012

• CO12109 | The G20 Summit: A Wasted Opportunity in Mexico

  25 June, 2012

• CO11142 | Responsibility to Protect: Tensions between Sovereignty and Security

  06 October, 2011

• CO11053 | Nuclear Power After Fukushima

  06 April, 2011

• CO11014 | Egypt's Youth Uprising: Its Global Dimensions

  10 February, 2011

• CO10171 | Time for Rethink: Need to Refocus on WTO

  15 December, 2010

• CO10136 | The G20 : Should Europe Give Way to Asia?

  29 October, 2010

• CO10132 | ASEAN Plus Eight Defence Cooperation: Rise of a New Player

  15 October, 2010

• CO10125 | Is Indonesia Outgrowing ASEAN?

  29 September, 2010

• CO10068 | New Directions for ASEAN

  23 June, 2010

• CO09111 | APEC at 20: Old Promises, New Challenges

  11 November, 2009

• CO09093 | Imagining the Future: The World in 2020

  16 September, 2009

• CO09046 | Is Mas Salamat a Rambo?

  13 May, 2009

• CO09023 | Global Crisis and Climate Change: Will Recession Undermine Climate Change Negotiations?

  04 March, 2009

• CO09010 | Priorities for the Obama Administration

  23 January, 2009

• CO08133 | Towards a Pacific Century: The East Asian Capitalist Model and Free Trade

  15 December, 2008

• CO08115 | Global Recession, Global Warming: Will Climate Change Negotiations Slow Down?

  28 October, 2008

• CO08104 | Russia and the Return of History

  26 September, 2008

• CO08077 | Is the ASEAN Charter Necessary?

  17 July, 2008

• CO08071 | Why War is Unlikely in Asia

  27 June, 2008

• CO08019 | Trends in Airpower Modernisation in the Asia Pacific Region

  25 February, 2008

• CO07109 | ASEAN: Act on Climate Change

  15 October, 2007

• CO07104 | ASEAN: Time to Suspend Myanmar

  04 October, 2007

• CO07095 | Why APEC Needs Results in Sydney

  07 September, 2007

• CO06065 | Is the ARF Obsolete? Three Moves to Avoid Irrelevance

  20 July, 2006

• CO06057 | Time for a ‘Plan B’ for the WTO? Or How to Rescue the Doha Round

  22 June, 2006

• CO05074 | Doha and Globalisation’s Missing Middle

  25 October, 2005

• CO05010 | Protecting the Malacca Straits

  03 March, 2005

• CO04061 | Why East Asia is Negotiating FTAs

  03 December, 2004

• CO04041 | The SAF’s Next Challenge

  10 September, 2004

• CO02026 | After Bali, Will Indonesia Act?

  29 October, 2002

• CO02014 | Islam and Society in Southeast Asia After 9-11

  10 September, 2002

• CO01002 | The Future of the ASEAN Regional Forum

  01 October, 2001

Books

• Perspectives on the Security of Singapore: The First 50 Years

  06 August, 2015

• Goh Keng Swee: A Public Career Remembered

  01 January, 2012

Monographs

• A New Agenda for the ASEAN Regional Forum

  15 July, 2002

Working Papers

• WP188 | Informal Caucuses within the WTO:Singapore in the "Invisibles Group"

  26 November, 2009

• WP145 | New Security Dimensions in the Asia Pacific

  29 October, 2007

• WP094 | The East Asian Experience:The Poverty of “Picking Winners”

  01 December, 2005

• WP033 | Islam and Society in Southeast Asia after September 11

  01 September, 2002

• WP018 | Asian Developing Countries and the Next Round of WTO Negotiations

  01 October, 2001

Authored Books

• Reflections: Singapore’s Place in the World. Singapore: Straits Times Press, 2024

Journal Articles

• Desker, Barry, Sarah Teo and Dylan Loh. "The ASEAN Regional Forum and its continued relevance." New Zealand International Review 40, no. 4 (2015): 17-20.
• “Why War is Unlikely in Asia: Facing the Challenge from China” (with Barry Desker), Survival, November-December 2008

Chapters in Edited Books

• “Between the Eagle and the Panda: ASEAN’s Perspectives on Human Rights” in Jörn Dosch and Frederick Kliem, The Elgar Companion to ASEAN. : Elgar Online, 2023, pp. 122-135
• “Re-examining the Human Rights Issue in ASEAN” in Lawrence Anderson, Beyond the Handshake: Singapore’s Foreign Service. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 2023, 143-152
• “A Narrow Escape in Bali” in K P Menon, Footprints on Foreign Shores: Tales Told by Foreign Service Officers . : Graceworks , 2022, pp. 1-8
• Osman, Mohamed Nawab Mohamed and Barry Desker. “Mr S Rajaratnam and the Making of Singapore’s Foreign Policy” in Kwa Chong Guan (ed), S Rajaratnam on Singapore: From Ideas to Reality. Singapore: World Scientific Pte Ltd, 2006.

Working Papers

• Barry Desker. “Against All Odds: Singapore's Successful Lobbying on the Cambodia Issue at the United Nations,” Occasional Paper, No. 97, ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute, 2016

Op-Eds

• “Preacher and Protests – What’s Driving Islam’s Conservative Shift in Indonesia”, The Straits Times, 26 May 2022
• “Rebuilding Asean Economies in a Post-Covid-19 World”, The Straits Times, 26 October 2021
• “ASEAN’s Myanmar Dilemma”, East Asia Forum, 23 May 2021
• Desker, Barry. “Why the Past Matters,” The Straits Times, February 14, 2014. http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/kri-usman-harun-issue-why-past-matters.