World needs ‘bridge builders’ to make the transition to new multi-polar order: President Tharman

President Tharman emphasized the importance of bridge-builders like Singapore and Sweden amid the risk of a fragmented global order. In a lecture at the Stockholm School of Economics during his state visit to Sweden, Tharman highlighted the potential for countries to act as intermediaries in various critical areas, including climate action, pandemic preparedness, AI development, and economic cooperation between the Global North and Global South.

Tharman acknowledged that while the world has not yet transitioned to a stable multipolar order, the presence of multiple power poles does not guarantee a system free from suspicion, friction, or conflicts. He cited examples of Singapore's efforts to bridge cooperation between the CPTPP and EU, as well as ASEAN and EU, and Sweden's long-standing tradition of being a bridge-builder since the UN peacekeeping force formation.

Tharman also pointed to other countries, including Australia, Canada, Ghana, Japan, and the EU, as potential bridge-builders. Despite the current political climate in the US, Tharman argued that global cooperation remains desirable, and stressed that the US and China must find ways to manage their interdependence and competition without resorting to weaponizing technologies or technologies.

He outlined three key steps for this, including viewing interdependence and competition as a relationship to be managed, recognizing that there is no definitive endpoint in the AI race, and embracing the potential for AI to reduce the gap between large, organized actors and lone, non-state actors.