Item category 2: POINTER Monthly Essays

In this essay, the author examines the challenges faced by states seeking to deter threats without the advantage of possessing nuclear weapons. He first examines the principles behind deterrence such as the two main strategies of denial and punishment. The factors needed for successful deterrence...

Both World War Two (WWII) and World War One (WWI) mark some of humanity’s darkest moments in the 20th century—cities razed to the ground, acts of unspeakable cruelty and deaths numbering in the untold millions. In this essay, the author argues that, despite the undeniably bloody legacy left by bo...

States are increasingly vulnerable in the modern-day 21st century geopolitical environment, arising from globalization, connectivity and disruptions from the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR). Economic interdependency and the global free flow of ideas and information have increased the vulnerabilit...

In this essay, the author cites Mary Kaldor1, who argues that armed conflicts in the post-Cold War era is fundamentally different from traditional Clausewitzian interstate conflicts. Unlike old wars, which were fought between state-controlled militaries for geopolitical and ideological reasons, '...

In this essay, the author highlights that while civilian leadership may help to drive top-down military innovation in peacetime, a civil-military relationship characterised by directive civilian control breeds a culture of deference and thus negatively affects a military's spontaneity in adapting...

In this essay, the author theorises that a state’s growth in economic might is often matched by an increasingly outward-facing strategic vision and a corresponding build-up of military power projection capabilities. He cited the example of the United States, a growing economic power by the late 1...

In this essay, the author discusses the various dimensions of strategy. He examines Clausewitz’s five elementsof strategy in his seminal work On War. He also explores Colin Gray’s 17 Dimensions and Michael Howard’s FourDimensions of Strategy. The author then studies the ques􀆟on that some dimensi...

In this essay, the author examines the viability of deterrence strategies for non-nuclear states. He highlights the importance of deterrence strategies, followed by an examination of the various theories of deterrence such as classical deterrence theory and perfect deterrence theory. The author a...

3-Dimensional (3D) printing is a form of Additive Manufacturing (AM) process which creates a 3D object from a model through the fusion of material. Although 3D printing started from as early as the 1980s, the technological leap to move beyond the realm of rapid prototyping only began in the 2010s...

In today’s information-centric world, potential aggressors can be discerned if a country possesses the actual means to retaliate and exercise their deterrence stance. The two pillars of Singapore’s defence policy built on diplomacy and deterrence relies on the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) to back...