Professor Wang Gungwu is the Institute of Policy Studies' 12th S R Nathan Fellow for the Study of Singapore. This book is an edited collection of his four IPS-Nathan Lectures, delivered from November 2022 to March 2023, and includes highlights of his question-and-answer segments with our audience.The Southeast Asian region is home to a set of diverse local cultures and distinct local identities. In this lecture series, Professor Wang looks at how great civilisations came into contact with our region and shaped its local identities and cultures. Being at the centre of Southeast Asia, Singapore's national identity and development have also been moulded by great ancient civilisations, namely the Indic, Sinic and Islamic. Later on, the idea of modernity brought about by Christian European civilisation greatly impacted our region. Understanding the history of Singapore from this perspective will give us insight to how the country's modern identity is being shaped and enable us to better understand our region's place in the modern world order.The IPS-Nathan Lecture series was launched in 2014 as part of the S R Nathan Fellowship for the Study of Singapore, named after Singapore's sixth and longest-serving president. It seeks to advance public understanding and discussion of issues of critical national interest for Singapore.

Professor Wang Gungwu is the Institute of Policy Studies' 12th S R Nathan Fellow for the Study of Singapore. This book is an edited collection of his four IPS-Nathan Lectures, delivered from November 2022 to March 2023, and includes highlights of his question-and-answer segments with our audience.The Southeast Asian region is home to a set of diverse local cultures and distinct local identities. In this lecture series, Professor Wang looks at how great civilisations came into contact with our region and shaped its local identities and cultures. Being at the centre of Southeast Asia, Singapore's national identity and development have also been moulded by great ancient civilisations, namely the Indic, Sinic and Islamic. Later on, the idea of modernity brought about by Christian European civilisation greatly impacted our region. Understanding the history of Singapore from this perspective will give us insight to how the country's modern identity is being shaped and enable us to better understand our region's place in the modern world order.The IPS-Nathan Lecture series was launched in 2014 as part of the S R Nathan Fellowship for the Study of Singapore, named after Singapore's sixth and longest-serving president. It seeks to advance public understanding and discussion of issues of critical national interest for Singapore.

Professor Joseph Liow is the Institute of Policy Studies' 13th S R Nathan Fellow for the Study of Singapore. This book is an edited collection of his three IPS-Nathan Lectures, delivered from October to November 2023, and includes highlights of his question-and-answer segments with our audience.The Southeast Asian region, celebrated for its economic growth and rich cultural tapestry, currently stands at the crux of global power dynamics. In this lecture series, Professor Liow delves into the complex challenges and dynamics that shape the region. These range from the escalating rivalry between the United States and China, to the emerging centrifugal forces within the region itself. The region's trajectory, tracing its path from Cold War turbulence to recent economic resurgence, is now facing geopolitical shifts and heightened risks of fragmentation arising from its inherent ethnic and religious diversity. By gaining a nuanced perspective on Southeast Asia's history and domestic tensions, we can gain insight into the potential strategies the region; and vitally, Singapore can take in a rapidly changing global environment.The IPS-Nathan Lecture series was launched in 2014 as part of the S R Nathan Fellowship for the Study of Singapore, named after Singapore's sixth and longest-serving president. It seeks to advance public understanding and discussion of issues of critical national interest for Singapore.

An accessible, transregional exploration of how Islam and Asia have shaped each other's histories, societies and cultures from the seventh century to today.

Traces the story of India's expansion that is woven into the culture of Southeast Asia.

The classic study of post-Cold War international relations, more relevant than ever in the post-9/11 world, with a new foreword by Zbigniew Brzezinski. Since its initial publication, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order has become a classic work of international relations and one of the most influential books ever written about foreign affairs. An insightful and powerful analysis of the forces driving global politics, it is as indispensable to our understanding of American foreign policy today as the day it was published. As former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski says in his new foreword to the book, it “has earned a place on the shelf of only about a dozen or so truly enduring works that provide the quintessential insights necessary for a broad understanding of world affairs in our time.” Samuel Huntington explains how clashes between civilizations are the greatest threat to world peace but also how an international order based on civilizations is the best safeguard against war. Events since the publication of the book have proved the wisdom of that analysis. The 9/11 attacks and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have demonstrated the threat of civilizations but have also shown how vital international cross-civilization cooperation is to restoring peace. As ideological distinctions among nations have been replaced by cultural differences, world politics has been reconfigured. Across the globe, new conflicts—and new cooperation—have replaced the old order of the Cold War era. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order explains how the population explosion in Muslim countries and the economic rise of East Asia are changing global politics. These developments challenge Western dominance, promote opposition to supposedly “universal” Western ideals, and intensify intercivilization conflict over such issues as nuclear proliferation, immigration, human rights, and democracy. The Muslim population surge has led to many small wars throughout Eurasia, and the rise of China could lead to a global war of civilizations. Huntington offers a strategy for the West to preserve its unique culture and emphasizes the need for people everywhere to learn to coexist in a complex, multipolar, muliticivilizational world.

Deze bundel gaat over de vorming van identiteit door het samenspel van etniciteit, nationalisme en de effecten van globalisering. De essays in Crossroad Civilisations: Ethnicity, Nationalism and Globalism in Asia maken de gelaagdheid en de complexiteit hiervan duidelijk.

Essential reading for scholars of gender and sexuality and anyone interested in Asia.

Professor Chan Heng Chee is the Institute of Policy Studies' 7th S R Nathan Fellow for the Study of Singapore. This book is an edited collection of her three IPS-Nathan Lectures, delivered between June and July 2020, and includes highlights of her question-and-answer segments with our virtual audience.Professor Chan analyses the uncertain and fast-changing world, and Singapore's place in it. She examines the major fault lines today, wrought by the sudden COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing malfunctioning of democracies and capitalist economies, and the unravelling of the world order. The United States-China rivalry has continued to intensify, with ripple effects on the world order, global trade and technology. Singapore will need to navigate this evolving relationship skilfully, while adapting its governance and economic models to respond to other challenges. But is it all doom and gloom for Singapore? Could our circumstances help us as we approach the new normal that lies ahead of us? The IPS-Nathan Lecture series was launched in 2014 as part of the S R Nathan Fellowship for the Study of Singapore. It seeks to advance public understanding and discussion of issues of critical national interest for Singapore.

The essays in this collection challenge conventional ideas about consumption and consumerism: they consider if the inundation of Western consumer goods have created identity confusions among the affluent in Asia, and if the expansion of consumer culture really does threaten the stability of politically anti-liberal states in Asia. This is the first book to analyse in detial consumerism in the region, and will be valuable reading for students and researchers in Asian studies, economics, politics and cultural studies.