Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Singapore: first over fifty leading economies in Annual Global Competitiveness Report 1999
CHECK RECENT STATS
The idea of underlying vulnerability persisting—in terms of our physical location and size. How
about other factors?
REGIONAL DIPLOMATIC ROLE—the disproportionate role we play in regional diplomacy. But why?
What forces us to do this?
Singapore’s original role as an economic trading port—although we have transcended our original
economic role, it is no less trade dependent in its modern version which registers a global ambit.
Our ability to cope with economic storms are better than most. Why? How did we achieve
this, since we are a lot more dependent on other countries?
We are not a centre from which new frontiers of knowledge would emanate, rather a go-
between
Location in SEA where a separatist disposition has been endemic, yet we want to draw in major
powers in having a stake in our well-being
Legacy of 1st Gen leaders: integral part of the political culture of Singapore (despite how we’re on
2nd/3rd gen leaders now)
Defence has deterrent in mind; our influence does not arise from military might. Trained to operate
in geopolitical confines!
Based on Israeli model (FIND OUT MORE)
A declared philosophy that the price in political freedom is necessarily required in return for good
governance and more material prosperity
Civil society in the Western liberal-democratic sense has been actively discouraged
Therefore domestic political considerations have not impinged on policy in the same way as
other post-colonial states (eg MALAYSIA)
Authority is concentrated in a limited number of members in the Cabinet; parliamentary
debates primarily for informing rather than real discussion
Mixed and grudging respect from the West because of a resentment of an authoritarianism
opposed to civil society that, in a post-Cold War world, is deemed to be unnecessary in a
modern materially advanced state
Singapore’s relations with USA: we want to draw USA in while other countries in the region
practice separatism
Balance of power is a policy which discriminates in favour of a benign hegemon as
opposed to one which guards against any potential hegemonic state
Balance of power counters innate vulnerability—ideal balance is the distribution that will
counter vulnerability. Stake for all countries but not too much for any one
Cannot bow to displays of public pleasure
Encouraging countervailing interests to develop a stake in the island’s survival and well-
being
‘Global City’
The child of a modern which had enabled the problem of a lack of natural hinterland to be overcome
Not only from the region but also the international economic system (which will be the final
arbiter of whether we prosper or decline
Basic priority: that international society should not allow one state to invade another and change its
government at will through an act of force
Judicious use of pulls and counter pulls so that smaller players have a greater freedom of
navigation
Singapore FP at the end of the day is still at its core a system of states
Realist at the core, liberal actions
International relations dilemma of a city state
National survival
Integrity of borders
Survival of state