Singapore: forward operating site
RIS ID
89480
Additional Publication Information
ISBN: 9781612514659
Abstract
Historically, Singapore functioned as a major naval hub supporting the British Empire's position in the Far East. The island was viewed by Admiral Sir John "Jackie" Fisher as one of the world's five key locations enabling Britain's global naval superiority. The fortification of the British strategic position on Singapore reached both its zenith and its nadir with the development in the interwar years of the "Singapore Strategy," which was designed to buttress the empire's Far Eastern defenses agajnst possible Japanese aggression. That controversial plan failed miserably in the breach. However, the island continued to host a significant British military presence after the Second World War, including its use by British Commonwealth forces to counter the communist insurgency in preindependence Malaya and to protect Malaysia during Indonesia's 1963-66 Confrontation (konfrontasi).
Publication Details
C. Rahman, 'Singapore: forward operating site' in C. Lord and A. S.. Erickson(ed), Rebalancing U.S. Forces: Basing and Forward Presence in the Asia-Pacific (2014) 116-129.