US-Singapore cooperation on tech and security: defense, cyber, and biotech

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the evolving US-Singapore partnership in defense, cyber, and biotech sectors, emphasizing collaborative opportunities amid geopolitical tensions and regional security challenges.

Contribution

It offers strategic recommendations for US-Singapore cooperation in defense, cybersecurity, and biosecurity to enhance regional security and resilience.

Findings

Singapore has transitioned from a defense technology purchaser to a collaborative partner.

Enhanced bilateral cooperation can address regional security threats more effectively.

Proposed joint initiatives include co-developing defense tech, improving cyber resilience, and strengthening bio-surveillance.

Abstract

The partnership between the United States and Singapore is founded in no small part on the shared recognition of the value that technology has for national security. Over the last 55 years, Singapore has become an established purchaser of U.S. defense technology, but the past 20 years have also seen the U.S.-Singapore relationship mature into an increasingly collaborative one, tackling newer fields like cybersecurity and biosecurity. However, current geopolitical tensions present a challenge for Singapore, which strives to retain its strategic autonomy by maintaining positive relations with all parties. Paradoxically, the rise of non-traditional security threats may pave the way for greater bilateral cooperation by allowing Singapore to position itself as a hub for cooperation on regional security issues in Southeast Asia at large. In such spirit, this paper recommends that the United States and Singapore do the following: 1) in defense technology, co-develop niche capabilities in C4ISR and unmanned systems with peacetime applications; 2) in cybersecurity, improve their domestic resilience against sophisticated nation-state actors while also building regional capacity to counter cybercrime in Southeast Asia; and 3) in biosecurity, strengthen regional epidemiological surveillance to brace against possible future pandemics.