The Institute had the immense privilege of welcoming Professor William Bain, the Provost’s Chair Professor in the Department of Political Science at the National University of Singapore.  
 
Professor Bain started by discussing the current conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza and how these demonstrate the end of the post-World War II settlement and ‘rules-based’ order, which were established to regulate the behaviour of states and bring an end to the atrocities. These conflicts symbolise how the world could be devolving into a ‘jungle’ or an ‘abyss’ over the next 10 years. The premise of the ‘jungle’ is that countries with more dominant power could exploit weaker states, and countries’ actions would be driven primarily by self-interest. Or we could go into the ‘abyss’ where there is total disregard for universal human rights, where the core principles of International Relations collapse. However, he firmly rejects these ‘might is right’ world order scenarios and instead proposed a pluralist world order, which he believes has the potential to succeed as a frame for international relations. He explored ideas of each state following its own path without interfering in each other’s aims, drawing the analogy of the ‘rules of the road’ where everyone has their own direction but follows rules only to avoid collisions. He emphasised that the guiding policy on regulating international activities under this system would be tolerance vs. respect or norms.
 
Undoubtedly, I can say that a significant takeaway for me is that my perception of the future of international relations has developed and improved significantly after hearing Professor Bain’s talk. However, what fascinated me the most was seeing real-world applications of the concepts taught in class and hearing a university professor’s interpretation of them. As an IB Global Politics student, I have learned in class about theories such as realism and sovereignty. It was exciting to see how Professor Bain interwove ideas of realism (essentially ‘power politics’) into his explanation of the ‘jungle’ and the potential consequences of that. Moreover, his use of sovereignty as a key consideration when setting the limits of toleration made me think not just about how sovereignty could be applied in the future, but also question how much the current international framework respects the sovereignty of nation-states, and whether that needs to change, as Professor Bain noted.
 
Professor Bain’s dive into some of the most pressing questions that face the global order was very intriguing and enriching for the guests in attendance, provoking some very thoughtful questions on human rights, the potential of a nuclear war and the future of the U.N. in the Q&A. showing their engagement with the content of the talk. 
 
The Institute and Tanglin would like to extend their heartfelt gratitude to Professor Bain for being such an integral part of this year’s Speaker Series and delivering a truly special and inspiring talk for all those in attendance!