Our Network

The ASEAN-ISIS (ASEAN Institutes of Strategic and International Studies) network is an association of think tanks recognised by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Formed in 1988, its founding membership comprises the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) of Indonesia, the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) of Malaysia, the Institute of Strategic and Development Studies (ISDS) of the Philippines, the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA), and the Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS) of Thailand.

The network encourages cooperation among analysts and promotes exchanges of information on issues affecting Southeast Asia’s peace and security. It has also served as a platform for “Track II” diplomacy, supplementing official “Track I” diplomacy between state governments.

ASEAN-ISIS was recognised by the ASEAN member states as a valuable mechanism for policy making at a meeting between the Heads of ASEAN-ISIS and the ASEAN Senior Officials, held on the sidelines of the 1993 ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) in Singapore.

In July 2012, the SIIA became the first organisation in Singapore to be awarded consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

The UN ECOSOC is the principal organ that coordinates the economic, social and related work of the 14 United Nations specialized agencies. It serves as a central forum for discussing international economic and social issues, and for formulating policy recommendations addressed to United Nations Member States and the UN system.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with UN ECOSOC status can make written and oral statements to UN agencies, attend conferences, organise side events, enter UN premises, and network with other organisations. Organisations can also provide expert analysis on issues directly from its experience in the field, help monitor and implement international agreements and raise public awareness of relevant issues.

In July 2011, SIIA submitted a stakeholder report to the UN Universal Periodic Review process, when it reviewed the human rights record of Singapore. In February 2012, the SIIA and the Singapore Management University (SMU) jointly hosted the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, Helen Clark for a roundtable discussion with young activists, social entrepreneurs, academics and students, on both regional and domestic issues.

The Singapore Institute of International Affairs is a strategic partner of the Asia Society. The Asia Society is a nonpartisan, nonprofit institution dedicated to promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among peoples, leaders and institutions of Asia and the United States in a global context. Founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller III, the Asia Society is headquartered in New York City.

In 2009, SIIA Chairman Simon Tay was a Bernard Schwartz Fellow at the Asia Society’s headquarters and served as an Asia Society International Council member. In May 2011, the SIIA co-hosted the 39th Williamsburg Conference in Singapore, an annual high-level flagship conference organised by the Asia Society on US-Asia relations. In November 2011, the SIIA and the Asia Society released a report entitled US–East Asia Relations: A Strategy for Multilateral Engagement, authored by a task force of experts from the US, Asia and Australia.

The EU Centre is one of 37 centres worldwide. The National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Techological University (NTU) responded to a call for proposal by the European Commission’s External Relations Directorate General in November 2007 to set up the first EU Centre in Singapore and Southeast Asia. By April 2008, having won the award to setup such a centre, these leading local universities had signed a project grant agreement to establish the Centre. In a few months, the senior management was swiftly appointed and a Memorandum of Understanding inked on 20 June 2008 between the three partners, the EU, NUS and NTU, marking the launch of the Centre. In 2013, the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA), Singapore’s oldest policy think tank – joined the partnership to help the centre raise awareness of the EU in South-East Asia.

NetRes is an Asia-Pacific regional network of policy research institutes, promoting collaboration in order to provide advice and policy recommendations on environmental management and sustainable development. It was established as a supporting mechanism for the second phase of Asia-Pacific Forum for Environment and Development (APFED) activities in 2005-2009.