EPISODE · Sep 19, 2025 · 1H 4M
#54- Kishore Mahbubani : New Hard Truths for 21st Century Geopolitics
from The Front Row Podcast · host Keith Yap
💰 Get S$50 cashback when you sign up to Revolut Business at https://www.revolut.com/rb/tfr/ before 30 Nov 2025 and top up your account. T&Cs and end date apply.This is a recording of a conversation I had with Prof Kishore Mahbubani at an event I co-organized with Bloomberg Singapore and Thinksuite. I hope you will enjoy the conversation as much as we did. Thank you Bloomberg and Thinksuite for your support of the podcast.Kishore Mahbubani is a Distinguished Fellow at the Asia Research Institute (ARI), National University of Singapore (NUS). Mr Mahbubani has been privileged to enjoy two distinct careers, in diplomacy (1971 to 2004) and in academia (2004 to 2019). He is a prolific writer who has spoken in many corners of the world. In diplomacy, he was with the Singapore Foreign Service for 33 years (1971 to 2004). He had postings in Cambodia, Malaysia, Washington DC and New York, where he twice was Singapore's Ambassador to the UN and served as President of the UN Security Council in January 2001 and May 2002. He was Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Ministry from 1993 to 1998.Mr Mahbubani joined academia in 2004, when he was appointed the Founding Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School), NUS. He was Dean from 2004 to 2017, and a Professor in the Practice of Public Policy from 2006 to 2019.This is the 54th episode of The Front Row Podcast.CHAPTERS: 00:00 Trailer & Intro00:50 The Trauma of War in Cambodia05:47 Revolut Business Ad07:12 Learning From S Rajaratnam In Cuba13:52 Experiences at the United Nations21:32 Winners and Losers Of Trump's Trade Wars36:37 Are We In The Asian Century?43:49 Will The US Decline?44:50 Role Of Gulf Countries45:34 Pragmatism vs. Idealism46:06 Kishore's Answers51:09 What Keeps Kishore Up At Night?51:32 Will China Force Everyone To Be Protectionist52:44 Advice For Young Singaporeans53:19 Economic Fallout for US on Tariffs53:42 Kishore's Answers 2Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: [email protected]: Prof Kishore misspoke early on refering to S Rajaratnam as Prime Minister but in fact, he meant to say Foreign Minister.
What this episode covers
💰 Get S$50 cashback when you sign up to Revolut Business at https://www.revolut.com/rb/tfr/ before 30 Nov 2025 and top up your account. T&Cs and end date apply.This is a recording of a conversation I had with Prof Kishore Mahbubani at an event I co-organized with Bloomberg Singapore and Thinksuite. I hope you will enjoy the conversation as much as we did. Thank you Bloomberg and Thinksuite for your support of the podcast.Kishore Mahbubani is a Distinguished Fellow at the Asia Research Institute (ARI), National University of Singapore (NUS). Mr Mahbubani has been privileged to enjoy two distinct careers, in diplomacy (1971 to 2004) and in academia (2004 to 2019). He is a prolific writer who has spoken in many corners of the world. In diplomacy, he was with the Singapore Foreign Service for 33 years (1971 to 2004). He had postings in Cambodia, Malaysia, Washington DC and New York, where he twice was Singapore's Ambassador to the UN and served as President of the UN Security Council in January 2001 and May 2002. He was Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Ministry from 1993 to 1998.Mr Mahbubani joined academia in 2004, when he was appointed the Founding Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School), NUS. He was Dean from 2004 to 2017, and a Professor in the Practice of Public Policy from 2006 to 2019.This is the 54th episode of The Front Row Podcast.CHAPTERS: 00:00 Trailer & Intro00:50 The Trauma of War in Cambodia05:47 Revolut Business Ad07:12 Learning From S Rajaratnam In Cuba13:52 Experiences at the United Nations21:32 Winners and Losers Of Trump's Trade Wars36:37 Are We In The Asian Century?43:49 Will The US Decline?44:50 Role Of Gulf Countries45:34 Pragmatism vs. Idealism46:06 Kishore's Answers51:09 What Keeps Kishore Up At Night?51:32 Will China Force Everyone To Be Protectionist52:44 Advice For Young Singaporeans53:19 Economic Fallout for US on Tariffs53:42 Kishore's Answers 2Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: [email protected]: Prof Kishore misspoke early on refering to S Rajaratnam as Prime Minister but in fact, he meant to say Foreign Minister.
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#54- Kishore Mahbubani : New Hard Truths for 21st Century Geopolitics
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