Synopsis:The series of 2015/16 IPS-Nathan Lectures is titled “Dealing with an Ambiguous World”.
The third lecture will deal with ASEAN, and US-China competition in Southeast Asia. It will examine ASEAN’s strengths and weaknesses in maintaining order, some of ASEAN’s key concepts of regional security and its attempts to shape a new security architecture for the region. In this context, it will analyse some of the broad underlying factors in the South China Sea disputes, the interests of the US and China that are engaged in the South China Sea and the challenges this poses for ASEAN.
Speaker:Ambassador Bilahari Kausikan is currently Ambassador-at-Large in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Singapore. From 2001 to May 2013, he was the Second Permanent Secretary and subsequently the Permanent Secretary of MFA. He retired in June 2013 after 33 years in the public sector.
Ambassador Kausikan held a variety of appointments in the MFA, such as Director for Southeast Asia, Director for East Asia and the Pacific and Deputy Secretary for Southeast Asia. He was the Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York from 1995 to 1998 and Ambassador to the Russian Federation from 1994 to 1995.
He has been awarded the Public Administration Medal (Gold) and the Pingat Jasa Gemilang (Meritorious Service Medal) by the Singapore government. He was also awarded the Order of Bernardo O’Higgins with the rank of Gran Cruz by the President of the Republic of Chile and the Oman Civil Merit Order by the Sultan of Oman.
Ambassador Kausikan was educated at Raffles Institution, the University of Singapore and Columbia University in New York.
Downloads:•
Mr Bilahari Kausikan’s speech• Media Coverage of Lecture III: Southeast Asia and ASEAN (30 Mar 2016)
• Report on Lecture III: ASEAN & US – China Competition in Southeast Asia
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2015/16 IPS-Nathan Lecture Series: Lecture III by Mr Bilahari KausikanVideo: