Beyond the Handshake

Singapore’s Foreign Service

Lawrence Anderson

Key Features

• he book contains a rich collecton o essa s and re ectons wri en b two generatons o Singapore s senior diplomats who worked trelessl to protect Singapore s interests and establish its place in the world

• ased on their vast e periences in oreign a airs, the contributors tell ascinatng, candid, frst hand accounts o how the witnessed important historical moments, navigated comple diplomatc issues, their successes and at tmes missed opportunites, while representng Singapore on the internatonal stage

• Wri en in a highl engaging and readable manner, the book is also accessible or the general reader, or an one who is interested in Singapore

• he book will appeal especiall to the ne t generaton o polic makers, researchers, and students learning about Singapore s diplomatc histor and oreign polic , and the art o diplomac

Descripton

From independence in 1965, Singapore has experienced a meteoric rise to a modern developed city-state. What is less known is the part pla ed b its oreign polic or b the men and women who contributed to its implementaton and success. Here, several o Singapore s senior diplomats and mbassadors tell in their own words, how the did their work, their e periences, their achievements and the challenges that the aced in promotng and sa eguarding Singapore s strategic securit and economic interests.

S. Rajaratnam School of Internatonal Studies, Singapore Editor

n a 37 ear career in the oreign Service since 984, Lawrence Anderson served at the Singapore Permanent ission to the U in ew ork and Singapore Embassies in the US and hailand. He was appointed mbassador to Cambodia (2004 07), as well as mbassador to Saudi rabia and concurrentl mbassador to ahrain (20 3 9).

ack home at the inistr o oreign airs, Lawrence at various tmes held appointments covering Singapore s bilateral relatons with its Southeast sian neighbours, regional polic and strategic securit issues involving SE and its relatons with the ialogue Partners, overseeing Singapore s technical assistance cooperaton programmes, as well as managed Singapore s relatons with ustralia, ew ealand, the South Pacifc slands, the European Union (EU) and other European countries. He retred rom the oreign Service in late 202 and is currentl a Senior ellow at the S. a aratnam School o nternatonal Studies ( S S). He is also Singapore s epresentatve to the dvisor oard o the SE nsttute or Peace and econciliaton ( SE P ).

February 2023

£45 | HARDCOVER 978 98 25 860 2

£25 | S C E 978 98 26 0 6 2

Imprint: World Scientfc Publishing Compan

Extent: 2 2pp

Type: Popular ook

Main Subject: Asian Studies

Sub-Subjects: Singapore Collecton sian Politcs Societ nternatonal elatons Politcal Science Polic Studies Public Polic

Keywords: oreign Polic nternatonal elatons Histor iplomac oreign Service Singapore SE

Readership: General readers interested in Singapore s oreign service rom the perspectve o senior diplomats and ambassadors

• oreword

• cknowledgements

• Pre ace

• List o Contributors

• The Early Years: dvancing Singapore s Securit and Strategic nterests (V K Rajan)

Sei ing Strategic pportunites or Singapore he uick, he Slow and he issed (T Jasudasen)

What o iplomats o (Bilahari Kausikan) or Whom the mbassadors oil (Lee Chiong Giam)

• Baptsm of Fire:

Li etme Serving Singapore (Seetoh Hoy Cheng)

Promotng Singapore s Politcal, Economic, Securit and Strategic nterests in ts elatons with hailand and ustralia (Tan Seng Chye) bserving Strategic and Securit ssues iplomat on the rontline (Mushahid Ali )

• ASEAN and Singapore:

Working at the SE Level (Ong Keng Yong)

• Our Global Reach: apan and Singapore Growing ies (Tan Chin Tiong) iplomatc Crisis (R Raj Kumar) e ectons on Career in the oreign Service (Robert Chua) oing ue iligence or Singapore s E cellence (Tan York Chor)

Working or Singapore s Strategic and Securit nterests broad (Christopher Cheang) he Kingdom and the Crown in the 2 st Centur (Lawrence Anderson) uilding ridges to ra il (Tan Lian Choo) wanda utual Cooperaton rom the Singapore odel (Yatman Yusof )

• The Foreign Service in the 21st Century: hree Pro ects in ndia avigatng the Lab rinth ( Ajit Singh) Singapore ew ealand ir alks to a l ing Start (Bernard Baker) e E amining the Human ights ssue in SE (Barry Desker) ourne as a Peacemaker (Tommy Koh)

• Postscript: What Makes Foreign Policy Work Beyond the Handshake: Career in iplomac ( A Selverajah)