The Geopolitics of COVID-19

Published: 27 Apr 2020

The “COVID-19: Updates from Singapore” weekly webinar series is a forum for leading clinicians, scientists, public health officials and policy makers to share insights into their field of study. The third session was held on Thursday 23 April 2020.

The session’s invited guest expert, Professor Kishore Mahbubani, is a veteran diplomat and currently a Distinguished Fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. From his perspective, backed by years of experience in international relations, Mr Kishore Mahbubani outlined the potentially far-reaching impact geopolitics has in disrupting the work being done to fight COVID-19.

In his talk The Geopolitics of COVID-19, Mr Mahbubani analysed the state of our world during a COVID-19 pandemic, the geopolitics affecting our world today and how the situation could improve. He provided an in-depth perspective on three areas that are driving the geopolitical competition between the two superpowers, mainly contest for primacy, the cultural dimension and political dimension and what it means for the rest of the world.

Mr Kishore Mahbubani’s careers in diplomacy and academia have sent him to wartime Cambodia (1973-74) as Singapore’s Chargé d’Affaires and seen him as President of the UN Security Council (Jan 2001, May 2002). He is also the Founding Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (2004-2017).

WATCH: COVID-19 Updates from Singapore: Webinar 3 | Prof Kishore Mahbubani

Join us in the next “COVID-19: Updates from Singapore” session on 30 April 2020, featuring guest speaker Assoc Prof Paul MacAry from the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, NUS. Click here to register.