In a 37-year career in the Foreign Service since 1984, Lawrence Anderson served at the Singapore Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York and the Singapore Embassies in the US and Thailand. He was appointed Ambassador to Cambodia (2004-2007), as well as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and concurrently Ambassador to Bahrain (2013-2019).

 

Back at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Anderson at various times held appointments covering Singapore’s bilateral relations with its Southeast Asian neighbors; Regional policy and strategic security issues involving ASEAN and its relations with the Dialogue Partners; overseeing Singapore’s Technical Assistance Cooperation Programmes; as well as managed Singapore’s relations with the European Union and other European countries; and Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific islands.

 

Mr. Anderson retired from the Foreign Service in late 2021 after a secondment to the Asia-Europe Foundation. He is currently a Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). His areas of interest include regional security in the Asia-Pacific and beyond, ASEAN, and Sino-US strategic competition. Mr. Anderson has published many articles, papers and contributed chapters to several publications. He edited the book Beyond the Handshake: Singapore’s Foreign Service, a collection of essays by retired Ambassadors and dignitaries. He is a Senior Fellow at the MFA Diplomatic Academy. He is also Singapore’s Representative on the Advisory Board of the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (ASEAN-IPR)