Think Tank (5/2022)
HIGHLIGHT
The Return of Conventional War?
16 Oct 2022
More than 40 senior military and defence officials attended the 23rd Asia Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO 2022) from 16 to 20 October 2022. The participants came from over 20 countries, spanning across the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
Organised by RSIS and its component unit, the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS), APPSMO 2022 was ...
RECENT BOOKS BY STAFF
From Centralised to Decentralising Global Economic Architecture: The Asian Perspective
Pradumna Bickram Rana, Xianbai Ji
This book focuses on the recent rise of new regional economic institutions such as the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which were established, in part, as a result of dissatisfaction of dynamic emerging markets with global economic institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank, and the GATT/WTO. The latter were formed by advanced economies in the West, after the historic Bretton Wood Conference of 1944.
In doing so, the book addresses how this recent round of decentralisation, defined as the co-existence of “senior” global institutions and a plethora of newly-established regional institutions, has affected global economic governance, and the delivery of global public goods. It also poses the question if this has led to the fragmentation of global economic governance.
The book adds value to existing literature by using a benefit-risk analytical framework to study the decentralisation process. Unlike the “contested multilateralism” argument used by some authors which focuses on the costs of decentralisation, the authors argue that benefits must also be considered. It also describes and analyses the establishment of global and regional international economic institutions and the evolving relationships between the two. Third, the authors argue that this decentralisation process will continue in the postpandemic period and recommend policies to reset the relationship between global and regional institutions. And lastly, the book discusses proposals to reform the international monetary system including the global reserve system with a view to reducing the hegemony of the US dollar.
Throughout the book, the role for Asia is also identified, and elaborated on.
Southeast Asian Social Cohesion Radar Launched
06 Sep 2022
Last month RSIS hosted the second edition of the International Conference on Cohesive Societies (ICCS) with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY). More than 900 academics, practitioners, religious, community and youth leaders from over 40 different countries across ...
China’s Provincial Governments and the Belt and Road Initiative
14 Oct 2022
Professor Dominik Mierzejewski and Dr Przemyslaw Ciborek, both from the University of Lodz, Poland, gave a public seminar on “China’s Provincial Governments and the Belt and Road Initiative,” on 14 October 2022.
The two speakers critiqued the mainstream perspective that presents the Bel ...
Great Power Competition: The Changing International Order and Multilateralism
13 Oct 2022
On 13 October 2022, the Centre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS) hosted the RSIS-Asian Vision Institute (AVI) workshop on “Great Power Competition: The Changing International Order and Multilateralism” that aimed to revisit the ongoing debates on great power competition and its implications fo ...
Southeast Asia’s Terrorism Terrain Two Decades after Bali: Changes, Continuities, and Trajectories
11 Oct 2022
The 2002 Bali bombings, which took 202 lives, was the deadliest terrorist attack in Southeast Asia. The Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) directed plot raised the threat of Islamist terrorism and has shaped counterterrorism (CT) efforts in the region since. Twenty years on, Southeast Asia is confronted by ...
Lessons and Legacies of the Sino-Indian War
07 Oct 2022
Marking the 60th anniversary of the 1962 Sino-Indian War, RSIS and the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) co-convened a workshop to examine its lessons and legacies on 6 and 7 October 2022, in Singapore. The workshop aimed to study the past, assess relations in the present, and ...
Perception and Misperception in US‐China Relations
05 Oct 2022
Dr Andrew Scobell, Distinguished Fellow with the China Program at the United States Institute of Peace, gave a seminar on “Perception and Misperception in US-China Relations” at RSIS on 5 October 2022, which attemped to address a few important questions in US-China relations.
What is th ...
Extremism: Old Paradigms; New Frontiers
05 Oct 2022
The Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS), with the support of the National Security Coordination Secretariat (NSCS), organised the first in-person Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE) workshop since the pandemic with a focus on how violent extremism intersects with gend ...
PEGASE 2022: The Role of Air Power
15 Sep 2022
The “PEGASE 2022: The Role of Air Power” seminar co-organised by the Embassy of France in Singapore and RSIS discussed the PEGASE 2022 Mission in the context of air power and, more broadly, defence diplomacy amidst security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region. PEGASE 2022 was carried out by ...
Social Cohesion: Is Religion a Help or Hindrance?
10 Sep 2022
The Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies Programme (SRP) hosted a seminar themed “Social Cohesion: Is Religion a Help or Hindrance?” featuring Rev Dr Alan Race, who spoke on the challenges of creating, maintaining, and sustaining social cohesion in contemporary societies. D ...
Indonesia, Singapore, ASEAN and the New Asian Landscape
29 Aug 2022
H. E. Airlangga Hartarto, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Republic of Indonesia, gave an RSIS Distinguished Public Lecture on “Indonesia, Singapore, ASEAN and the New Asian Landscape”, a lecture that was held at PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay, on 29 August 2022.
Mr Airlangg ...
RSIS Dialogue on “Total Defence”
25 Aug 2022
Is the Total Defence concept a set of lofty ideals that is impractical for youths on a personal level? Is racial harmony in Singapore forged by politically correct behaviours rather than authentic acceptance? These were some of the questions raised by participants at “Total Defence – A C ...
Security in the Indo-Pacific: The Asianisation of the Regional Security Architecture
22 Aug 2022
Dr Felix Heiduk, Head of Asia Research Division, German Institute for Foreign Security Affairs, delivered a talk on “Security in the Indo-Pacific: The Asianisation of the Regional Security Architecture?” at an RSIS Seminar held on 22 August 2022. Dr Heiduk noted that the regional security arch ...
International Order Transition and US-China Strategic Competition in the Indo-Pacific
10 Aug 2022
A public seminar by RSIS on “International Order Transition and US-China Strategic Competition in the Indo Pacific” had Professor He Kai from Griffith University, Australia, share his thoughts on the challenges to the liberal international order (LIO) and the regional order in the ...
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.