Giving practitioners academic scaffolding: RSIS leaders reflect as think-tank turns 30
The school has been supporting policymaking and providing practitioners with intellectual grounding in geopolitics.
Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) has been at the forefront of providing academic and intellectual support for policymaking and practitioners over its 30-year history. The school's expertise was crucial in the development and implementation of the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act in 2019, which aimed to tackle online falsehoods and manipulation.
RSIS leaders believe that the issue of disinformation and foreign interference requires a comprehensive approach, and they have been bringing together global experts from various fields, including sociology, psychology, communications, and military strategy, to provide a holistic understanding of these complex issues. These workshops enable policymakers to gain a complete picture of the challenges they face.
The RSIS has also contributed to Singapore's security efforts in various ways, such as supporting the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG) in rehabilitating Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) detainees. The RRG sought the help of Muslim religious leaders, who required training through RSIS to understand the origins of JI and the factors that led to its formation. This holistic understanding proved essential in rehabilitating the detainees and addressing the root causes of extremism.
In recent years, RSIS has continued to provide academic grounding and intellectual scaffolding to Ministry of Home Affairs officers and other practitioners, helping them develop a broader and holistic view of international trends that impact transnational terrorism. Additionally, RSIS has been involved in reviewing policies and analyzing their impacts on Singapore's security, such as the blocking of fake websites used for disinformation campaigns.
The RSIS also conducts research on social cohesion, studying the integration of different ethnic groups in Singapore's housing estates. This work has helped inform policies aimed at promoting social integration and understanding the factors that influence neighborhood composition.
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