Singapore, 20 September 2026 – Singapore’s foreign policy is grounded in realism but rejects the idea that a small state must remain passive, according to veteran diplomat Tommy Koh, who retired after 55 years of public service. His assessment offers investors a framework for understanding how the city-state seeks relevance, preserves autonomy and supports international rules amid sharper rivalry among major powers.
Koh’s outlook was shaped early in his career when the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia demonstrated that powerful states could use force and block collective action. The episode reinforced the limits of international law when strategic interests dominate, but it did not persuade him that rules were irrelevant. Instead, it strengthened the case for smaller countries to defend multilateral institutions persistently.
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