Barry Desker

Last updated

Barry Desker is a former Singaporean diplomat and corporate executive. He was the non-resident ambassador to the Vatican and Spain, as well as Singapore's representative to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights. Desker also serves as the chairman of the board of governors of Singapore Technologies Marine. He is a trustee of Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, as well as a distinguished fellow and former dean of the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies. He was also a member of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights. [1]

Desker was born on 29 March 1947 in Singapore. He joined the foreign service in 1970. Desker served as Singapore's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York from 1982 to 1984. [2]

He was Singapore's Ambassador to Indonesia from 1986 to 1993. He retired from the foreign service in 1993 and was appointed the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Trade Development Board (1994-2000). He was Singapore's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. He was previously on the Boards of Sime SembCorp Engineering Sdn Bhd, Sembawang Engineering and Construction (now SembCorp Utilities) and Jurong Port.

Desker took over as director of the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS) in 2000. The IDSS was expanded to a full graduate school and policy-focused think tank in 2007, and was renamed as the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Desker stepped down as dean of the school in 2014. [3]

Desker, a President's Scholar, graduated from the University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Arts (First Class Honours) degree in 1970 and obtained his master's degree from the University of London in 1973. [2]

Desker is also an Asia-Pacific member of the Trilateral Commission. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign relations of Singapore</span> Overview of the foreign relations of Singapore

Singapore maintains diplomatic relations with 188 UN member countries. The exceptions are Burundi, Central African Republic, Monaco and South Sudan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trilateral Commission</span> International political and economic discussion group

The Trilateral Commission is a nongovernmental international organization aimed at fostering closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and North America. It was founded in July 1973 principally by American banker and philanthropist David Rockefeller, an internationalist who sought to address the challenges posed by the growing economic and political interdependence between the U.S. and its allies in North America, Western Europe, and Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ong Keng Yong</span> Singaporean diplomat

Ong Keng Yong is a Singaporean diplomat who served as the 11th secretary-general of ASEAN between 2003 and 2007. He is currently the Executive Deputy Chairman of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at the Nanyang Technological University.

Walter Woon Cheong Ming is a Singaporean lawyer who served as the fifth attorney-general of Singapore between 2008 and 2010. He is currently an Emeritus Professor at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law, Lee Kong Chian Visiting professor at the Singapore Management University Yong Pung How School of Law, and the dean of the RHT Legal Training Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chan Heng Chee</span> Singaporean academic and diplomat

Chan Heng Chee is a Singaporean academic and diplomat who has been serving as Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2012, Chairwoman of the National Arts Council and Member of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights. She had also served as Singapore Ambassador to the United States between 1996 and 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kishore Mahbubani</span> Singaporean academic, diplomat and geopolitical consultant

Kishore Mahbubani is a Singaporean diplomat and geopolitical consultant who served as Singapore Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 1984 and 1989, and again between 1998 and 2004, and President of the United Nations Security Council between 2001 and 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S. Rajaratnam</span> Singaporean politician (1915–2006)

Sinnathamby Rajaratnam, better known as S. Rajaratnam, was a Singaporean statesman, journalist and diplomat who served as the first Minister for Foreign Affairs between 1965 and 1980, and Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore between 1980 and 1985. Rajaratnam is widely recognised as one of the founding fathers of Singapore. He was also one of the founders of the People's Action Party (PAP), which has governed the country continuously since independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NUS Faculty of Law</span> Law school in Singapore

The National University of Singapore Faculty of Law is Singapore's oldest law school. NUS Law was initially established in 1956 as the Department of Law in the University of Malaya. After its establishment, NUS Law was Singapore's only law school for half a century, until the subsequent establishment of the SMU School of Law in 2007 and the SUSS School of Law in 2017. NUS Law is currently located at the NUS Bukit Timah Campus. The current dean of NUS Law is Andrew Simester. Internationally, NUS Law has been ranked twelfth by the QS World University Rankings by Subject in 2023 and ninth by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject in 2023.

Irene Ng Phek Hoong is a former Malaysian-born Singaporean politician who represented Tampines Group Representation Constituency from 2001 to 2015. She is also a Writer-in-Residence at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen W. Bosworth</span> American academic and diplomat

Stephen Warren Bosworth was an American academic and diplomat. He served as Dean of The Fletcher School at Tufts University and served as United States Special Representative for North Korea Policy from March 2009 to October 2011. He served three times as a U.S. Ambassador, to Tunisia (1979–1981), to the Philippines (1984–1987), and to South Korea (1997–2001). In 1987, he received the American Academy of Diplomacy's Diplomat of the Year Award.

Rosario Manalo, is a Filipino career diplomat, political scientist, and educator in the Philippines. She is the Special Representative of the Philippines to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights and has served as undersecretary of Foreign Affairs in charge of International Economic Relations from 1997 to 2001. Moreover, she has served as Philippine ambassador to Sweden, to France, to Belgium and to the European Economic Community.

The S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) is an autonomous graduate school and policy-oriented think tank within the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. Founded in 1996 as the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, RSIS offers graduate education in international affairs, taught by an array of international faculty. The school is named after former Deputy Prime Minister S. Rajaratnam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russia–Singapore relations</span> Bilateral relations

Russia–Singapore relations are the bilateral foreign relations between the two countries, Russia and Singapore. Russia has an embassy in Singapore. Singapore has an embassy in Moscow. Both countries are full members of APEC. Relations between the 2 countries have been friendly since bilateral ties were established. Due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, relations became tense after Singapore imposed sanctions against Russia.

The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) was inaugurated in October 2009 as a consultative body of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The human rights commission exists to promote and protect human rights, and regional co-operation on human rights in the member states of. The AICHR meets at least twice per year.

The Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) is a Singaporean research institute and think tank which focuses on international relations, especially in ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific (APAC). The Institute conducts research, hosts events, and plans conferences that deal with pressing issues in international affairs. It is the oldest think tank in Singapore, being founded in 1961.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Gede Ngurah Swajaya</span>

I Gede Ngurah Swajaya, also known as Ngurah Swajaya, is an Indonesian diplomat who served as Indonesia’s ambassador to Singapore from 2015 to 2020. Previously, he served as the first ambassador to ASEAN and Cambodia.

Kamrul Ahsan is a Bangladeshi diplomat. He is currently serving as his country's Ambassador to the Russian Federation. He is also concurrently accredited as the Ambassador of Bangladesh to the Republic of Belarus and Kazakhstan. Before joining in his position in Moscow, he served as Secretary for Bilateral and Consular Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh.

Bilahari Kim Hee Papanasam Setlur Kausikan is a Singaporean retired academic, diplomat and civil servant who served as Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 1995 and 1998.

The ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) is a part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and was created in 2010 in order to develop policies and programs to benefit women and children in countries that make up ASEAN.

Douglas Foo Peow Yong is a Singaporean business executive and former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP). He is the founder and chairman of Sakae Holdings Ltd; as well as Singapore’s Non Resident High Commissioner to Tanzania and appointed representative to the ASEAN Business Advisory Council. He is also the President of the Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF), Vice-President of the Singapore National Employers’ Federation (SNEF) and Vice-Chairman of the Singapore Business Federation (SBF).

References

  1. "Mr Barry Desker appointed Singapore's representative to Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights". The Straits Times. 4 December 2015.
  2. 1 2 "MFA Press Statement Appointment of Singapores Ambassador to the Holy See". www.mfa.gov.sg. Retrieved 2023-09-03.
  3. "Long-time dean of RSIS Barry Desker hands reins to envoy Ong Keng Yong". The Straits Times. 3 November 2014.
  4. Aidan Dunne. "List Of Trilateral Commission Members". The Trilateral Commission. Archived from the original on 18 March 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2014.