Harsh Truths of 21st Century Geopolitics- Kishore Mahbubani

Video Description

💰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 also the first sponsorship I have taken since the inception of the podcast. Your support will help me grow the podcast) 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. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Trailer & Intro 00:50 The Trauma of War in Cambodia 05:47 Revolut Business Ad 07:12 Learning From S Rajaratnam In Cuba 13:52 Experiences at the United Nations 21:32 Winners and Losers Of Trump's Trade Wars 36:37 Are We In The Asian Century? 43:49 Will The US Decline? 44:50 Role Of Gulf Countries 45:34 Pragmatism vs. Idealism 46:06 Kishore's Answers 51:09 What Keeps Kishore Up At Night? 51:32 Will China Force Everyone To Be Protectionist 52:44 Advice For Young Singaporeans 53:19 Economic Fallout for US on Tariffs 53:42 Kishore's Answers 2 Feel 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.com Email: [email protected]