• Globalisation
  
• Pulls of integration and disintegration of political entities
  
• American dominance and leadership in the world
  
• Emergence of new powers

Proliferation of nuclear states, weapons of mass destruction and the technological advances in the weapon delivery systems

The development of these issues have significant implications for global finance, and the conduct of business in Asia.

Professor Chan Heng Chee, Singapore's Ambassador to the US, assesses the global and Asia-Pacific political and security implications.

Dr William Overholt, Executive Director and Head, Asia Macro Research, Nomura International (Hong Kong, details the effects on the Asia-Pacific economies.

John Olds, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Development Bank of Singapore, offers the finance perspective.

• Claire Chiang, Nominated Member of Parliament, discusses the Singapore identity amidst globalisation and the internet.
  
• Patrick Daniel, Editor of Business Times and Darke Sani, Managing Director of Apple Computer (South Asia), focus on the social implications of the new economy and a possible digital divide.
  
• Lim Soo Hoon, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Community Development and Sports, analyses how Singapore can remain a cohesive and resilient society prepared for the future.
  
• Dr Nirmala Puroshotam, a sociologist with the National University of Singapore, offers insights on how to foster civil society.

Perspective: 2000 & Beyond is a collection of papers that were presented at a conference in January organised by The Institute of Policy Studies, a public policy think-tank in Singapore. Unlike the Year in Review series of the past, Perspective endeavours to provide more forward-, instead of backward-looking, insights into developments in the international and domestic environments.

Lee, Tsao Yuan, ed. 2000 Perspective: 2000 & Beyond. Singapore: Times Academic Press for IPS.

(104 pages, ISBN 981 210 167 5)