A deeply frustrated and disillusioned Manchester United fan, I chose a career in academia when it became clear to me that I would not make it as a professional footballer (not by a mile and a half). So I decided to bite the bullet and embark on a research and academic career. That path took me to NTU, where I began academic life thirty years ago as a Research Assistant at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies. 

After completing my PhD at the LSE, I returned to a faculty position at what became the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, where I also served as Associate Dean for five years, and Dean for four years. This was followed by another administrative and managerial stint, this time at the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences of NTU, where I was Dean for seven years.

My development as a scholar began with an interest in the international politics of Southeast Asia and Muslim politics and social movements in Southeast Asia (primarily Malaysia and Thailand, but also Indonesia). These were the themes of my teaching and publication all the way until I made full professor. While I still nurse great curiosity in these areas, my interests have expanded to larger questions of geopolitics and geoeconomics in the context of great power competition. 

My academic life in Singapore was pleasantly disrupted for two years, when I had the opportunity to spend that amount of time at the Brookings Institution to help them establish a research programme on Southeast Asia. This was at the height of the Obama "Pivot" (a very different 'then'!). I have a few other hats that I presently wear, including chairman of the Middle East Institute at NUS, board/council member of the Social Science Research Council, National Arts Council, and the ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute. 

Apart from academic research and teaching, the policy "wonk" part of me also enjoys engagement with the policy community and the general public, which I do through public lectures and op-ed writing.