No One Wants To Be On The Losing Side: The Formation of Singapore's Defence Policy During the Cold War, 1965-1989

Abstract

Although much has been written on Singapore's defence policy, there is little historical research on the subject, especially from the post-1971 period until the end of the Cold War in 1989. As a result, the idea that Malaysia and Indonesia were Singapore's principal security concerns since independence forms the conventional narrative of Singapore's defence policy. However, complex interactions between global and regional affairs during the Cold War impacted Singapore's threat perceptions and security concerns. During the 1970s and 1980s, Singapore's threat perceptions were shaped by regional events such as Vietnam's unification under the communists and the Sino-Soviet rivalry for global influence in the communist world. As a result, Singapore's defence strategy had to evolve to accommodate the changes in its strategic environment. This dissertation presents the history of Singapore's defence policy from when it gained independence in 1965 to the end of the Cold War in 1989 by examining Singapore's threat perceptions and security concerns throughout the period. It investigates the island-state's three broad strategies to deal with its security concerns: defence relations with major western powers, diplomacy and developing indigenous military capabilities. The principal argument of this dissertation is that defence relations with major western powers, Britain, and the United States, were critical as they contributed to strengthening Singapore's defence capabilities and added weight to Singapore's diplomatic manoeuvres to serve its security interests. Although this dissertation draws mainly on archival materials from traditional sources such as Australia, Britain, Singapore, and the United States, it includes materials from non-traditional sources. These are declassified South African intelligence files and personal materials provided by a United States-based former diplomat who had engagements with the CIA, SID, and other Southeast Asian intelligence services during the Cold War. The breadth of materials and documents provides a deeper insight into Singapore's threat perceptions. It challenges the conventional narrative that Malaysia and Indonesia have been Singapore's principal security concerns since the island-state's independence in 1965. Additionally, these historical materials offer an insight into several new under-researched areas in the history of Singapore's defence policy, such as the role of the FPDA in the area of maritime awareness for Singapore, the United States' expansion of its military presence in Singapore and contributions to the rapid growth of Singapore's military capabilities in the 1970s; and significantly, Singapore's covert operations in a foreign military conflict during the 1980s. Therefore, the findings in this dissertation provide the reader with a broader and fresh perspective of Singapore's defence policy during the Cold War. Show more