The Statecraft of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew
Abstract
Singapore's successful modernization and transformation into one of the East Asian Newly Industrialized Countries (NICs) and as part of the East Asia miracle -- in spite of its small size and limited resource endowment -- owes much to the leadership and statecraft of Lee Kuan Yew. Under his regime, Singapore has sustained its rapid economic development since its separation from the Federation of Malaysia in 1965. The ejection of Singapore from the Federation led Lee to focus on two strategic goals: the survival of Singapore as an independent state while simultaneously pursuing nation-building under the threats of communism and internal ethnic conflicts. Lee's statecraft consisted of three interrelated and complementary instruments: (1) the establishment of Singapore's own national defense capability while allying with the United States and other Western powers to balance the security threats from the Soviet Union and China, as well as regional diplomacy; (2) the vigorous pursuit of economic prosperity through an outward-looking, export-oriented, and private-sector-led growth strategy; and (3) the modernization of Singapore through both conducive and coercive measures in education, family planning, housing, grassroots civic organizations, and government institutions. He also promoted meritocracy and a corruption-free and accountable government. Under Lee's pragmatic policies and quasi-authoritarian tutelage all of his strategic goals were achieved. Lee's statecraft has been a model both regionally and inter-continentally, such as in sub-Saharan Africa. But his quasi-authoritarian approach also has attracted criticism, especially from human rights groups. This paper analyzes Lee's statecraft and discusses the lessons other nations can learn from it.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA442087
Entities
People
- K. Toh
Organizations
- National War College