Intimacy at a distance: A history of United States-Singapore foreign relations from 1965 to 1975 [article]

Wei Boon Chua, University, The Australian National, University, The Australian National
2014
Singapore became an independent state on 9 August 1965, six months after United States forces landed in Vietnam in March 1965. As part of an effort to contain the influence of the Soviet Union and People's Republic of China in Southeast Asia, Washington deployed a strategy that encompassed political, economic and defence engagements with non-communist countries in the region. Because of its strategic location and significant population of overseas Chinese, Singapore became a key country in
more » ... ngton's policy towards Southeast Asia. Between 1965 and 1975, Washington aimed to maintain its access to Singapore's naval dockyards and to keep the island state's economy viable, so as to limit the risk of communist subversion in Singapore. The Singapore government's objectives were to preserve its legitimacy to govern by developing Singapore's economy and boosting its security during the Cold War. In order to gain international recognition of its independence after separation from Malaysia, the Singapore government decided to join the Non-aligned Movement and maintained an image of neutralism in the bipolar conflict between the US and the USSR. After a rocky start in the US-Singapore relationship in late 1965, America's relations with Singapore improved in 1966. Nevertheless, the Singapore government seemed to distance itself from the US while drawing nearer to the Soviet Union between the late 1960s and the early 1970s. Drawing from archival documents from the United States, Britain and Australia, this dissertation presents a history of US-Singapore foreign relations during the period of the Vietnam War, and argues that relations between the two countries were determined by the interplay of America's policy of containment and Singapore's attempt at projecting a non-aligned foreign policy stance. Although the first decade of Singapore's independence established the United States as an indispensable contributor to Singapore's economic growth and security during the Cold War, the process was not always smooth because the l [...]
doi:10.25911/5d7390af86c2c fatcat:t54cxokolvey3lnild7jna7dya