What Zelensky's Oval Office spat has to do with Singapore's foreign policy

Singapore's diplomatic and military strengths are essential cards in hand for surviving in a might-is-right world.

- Bhavan Jaipragas

Even in today's era of whiplash headlines, the events of Feb 28 when Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky endured an Oval Office blow-up more akin to reality TV — will not simply fade into the ether.

US President Donald Trump and Vice-President J.D. Vance's shabby treatment of Mr Zelensky may have been dismissed as "great television" in Mr Trump's own words, but it also exposed a stark logic: When small states fall out of favour, they risk open chastisement or outright humiliation.

Here in Singapore, those scenes went without direct mention in the closely watched March 3 speeches in Parliament by Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, yet they offer a sobering lens through which to understand our Republic's approach to foreign policy and defence in an increasingly perilous world.

Certainly, Singapore should not gloat over Ukraine's predicament — or anyone else's.