Robert Beckman is an Adjunct Senior Fellow in the Maritime Security Programme at the Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, NTU. He was the founding Director of the Centre for International Law (CIL), a university-level research centre at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He served as its Director from 2009 to 2016, and he is currently the Head of its Ocean Law and Policy Programme. Prof Beckman is also an associate professor in the NUS Faculty of Law. He is an expert on the law of the sea and has a special interest in ocean law and policy, maritime security and the international regulation of shipping. He is a Director of the Rhodes Academy of International Law and has lectured at the Rhodes Academy since 2009. He serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Singapore branch of the Council on Security and Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific (CSCAP). Prof Beckman was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) at the 2007 National Day Awards, along with two awards from NUS – the Outstanding Educator Award (2001), and the Staff Achievement Award (1997).

• Ocean Law & Policy
• Piracy and Maritime Security
• International Regulation of Shipping
• Marine Environmental Law

• Director of the Centre for International Law (CIL), NUS
• Head of Programme in Ocean Law and Policy, CIL, NUS
• Associate Professor, NUS Faculty of Law

Policy Reports

• Enhancing the Security of Singapore's Submarine Cables: Strengths, Challenges and Opportunities

  21 May, 2024

RSIS Commentary Series

• CO17092 | Unauthorised Manoeuvres in Waters: US Chides M’sia Restrictions - A Rejoinder to BA Hamzah -

  12 May, 2017

• CO16180 | Game Changer in the Maritime Disputes

  18 July, 2016

• CO14213 | Large-Scale Reclamation Projects in the South China Sea: China and International Law

  29 October, 2014

• CO14043 | The South China Sea Disputes: Formula for a Paradigm Shift - A Rejoinder

  03 March, 2014

• CO14035 | The South China Sea Disputes: Formula for a Paradigm Shift?

  19 February, 2014

• CO12140 | The South China Sea Disputes: How States Can Clarify Their Maritime Claims

  31 July, 2012

• CO12072 | Scarborough Shoal: Flashpoint for Confrontation or Opportunity for Cooperation?

  24 April, 2012

• CO12036 | The China-Philippines Dispute in the South China Sea: Does Beijing have a Legitimate Claim

  07 March, 2012

• CO11075 | Islands or Rocks? Evolving Dispute in South China Sea

  10 May, 2011

• CO10116 | South China Sea: How China Could Clarify its Claims

  16 September, 2010

• CO10090 | South China Sea: Worsening Dispute or Growing Clarity in Claims?

  16 August, 2010

• CO07046 | Joint Development in the South China Sea: Time for ASEAN and China to Promote Cooperation?

  29 May, 2007

• CO07042 | Bush’s Decision to Accede to UNCLOS Why it is important for Asia

  22 May, 2007

• CO06125 | Australia’s Pilotage System in the Torres Strait: A Threat to Transit Passage?

  07 December, 2006

• CO06116 | North Korea and the UN: Resolution 1718 and Its Legal Dimensions

  27 October, 2006

Chapters in Edited Books

• Beckman, Robert. “The 1998 SUA Convention and 2005 SUA Protocol: Tools to Combat Piracy, Armed Robbery, and Maritime Terrorism.” In Lloyd’s MIU Handbook of Maritime Security, edited by Rupert Herbert-Burns, Sam Bateman and Peter Lehr. Florida: CRC Press, 2009.
• Beckman, Robert. “South China Sea: Time for ASEAN-China Joint Development?” in Strategic Currents: Emerging Trends in Southeast Asia, edited by Yang Razali Kassim. Singapore: RSIS and ISEAS, 2009.
• Beckman, Robert. “Legal Regimes for Cooperation in the South China Sea.” In Security and International Politics in the South China Sea: Towards a Co-operative Management Regime, edited by Sam Bateman and Ralf Emmers. Abingdon: Routledge, December 2008.
• Beckman, Robert. “Military Activities in the Exclusive Economic Zone: Towards a Common Understanding.” In Strategic Currents: Marking the Transition to the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, edited by Yang Razali Kassim. Singapore: Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, 2006.

Op-Eds

• “Whitsun Reef – awash in a sea of (legal) uncertainty” (with Tara Davenport), The Straits Times, 8 April 2021

• Security of Submarine Cables, Maritime Law Enforcement Division of the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Maritime Law Enforcement Division workshop for Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, 5-8 April 2021
• Singapore-Philippines Cooperation on the Seafarer Crisis: Model for the Region?, South China Sea Sub-forum of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2021, 20-21 April 2021
• State Responsibility for the Actions of Private Entities and the Role of Non-State Entities in Maritime Cooperation, 3^rd ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Workshop on Implementing UNCLOS and other International Instruments, 1-2 June.