Kishore Mahbubani

Kishore Mahbubani is a Distinguished Fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, and a globally recognised authority on geopolitics, economic power shifts and Asia’s role in the global economy. He brings a rare combination of senior diplomatic leadership and academic institution-building, offering strategic insight into how global political and economic trends shape business, investment and cross-border activity. 

He spent 33 years with the Singapore Foreign Service, holding senior postings in Asia and the United States, and twice served as Singapore’s Ambassador to the United Nations, including as President of the UN Security Council. He was also Permanent Secretary at Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Gold) for his contributions to public service. He later became the Founding Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at NUS, where he led its development into a globally recognised centre for policy education and executive engagement. 

A prolific author, he has written nine influential books examining globalisation, competitiveness and the shifting balance of economic power, including The Great Convergence, The New Asian Hemisphere, Has China Won? and The Asian 21st Century. He is consistently ranked among the world’s leading public intellectuals by Foreign Policy, Prospect and the Financial Times.