Join us for a special conversation with Ambassador Kishore Mahbubani on the occasion of his latest book, Living the Asian Century: An Undiplomatic Memoir. Ambassador Mahbubani has distinguished himself in two distinct careers, in diplomacy (1971-2004) and in academia (2004 to 2019). He served in the Singaporean Foreign Service for 33 years with postings in Cambodia, Malaysia, and the U.S., and served twice as Singapore’s Ambassador to the UN, during which he was President of the UN Security Council in January 2001 and May 2002. He also served as Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Ministry from 1993-1998. In academia, he was the founding Director of the Civil Service College, and in 2004 he was appointed as the Founding Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, where he was also a Professor in the Practice of Public Policy. He is a prolific author, having published nine books: Can Asians Think? (2001), Beyond the Age of Innocence (2005), The New Asian Hemisphere (2008), The Great Convergence (2013), Can Singapore Survive? (2015), The ASEAN Miracle (2017 with Jeffrey Sng), Has the West Lost It? (2018), Has China Won? (2020), and The Asian 21st Century (2022), which has been downloaded almost 3.6 million times in 160 countries. Among his awards and accolades, he is the recipient of the Public Administration Medal (Gold) from the Singaporean government for his diplomatic service, was elected as an honorary international member to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he received the Foreign Policy Association Medal with the following opening words in the citation: “A gifted diplomat, a student of history and philosophy, a provocative writer and an intuitive thinker”. 

Asia Society President and CEO Dr. Kyung-wha Kang will sit with him to discuss his memoir, which traces the transformation of the Republic of Singapore from a colony into an Asian powerhouse alongside his own life, going from a poor childhood to an illustrious diplomatic and academic career. He will reflect on his experience, having both bore witness to and participated in global events and trends during his career — and his gratitude for the opportunity to do so.

Dr. Kyung-wha Kang, Asia Society President and Chief Executive Officer, is an accomplished diplomat who served as South Korea’s 38th Minister of Foreign Affairs (2017 to 2021) — the first woman appointed to this post in the nation’s history, endeavoring to garner global support for South Korea’s initiative to engage with North Korea towards lasting peace and complete denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. She previously held key leadership roles at the United Nations, including as Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator and Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, and Senior Advisor on Policy to Secretary-General António Guterres. Before joining the United Nations, Dr. Kang held various positions in South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, specializing in multilateral affairs and intergovernmental organizations. Dr. Kang holds MA and PhD degrees from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in the United States. Her doctorate work was in the field of international and intercultural communication. Dr. Kang served as Distinguished Professor Emeritus from Ewha Womans University and is currently Distinguished Professor at the Institute for Global Engagement & Empowerment, Yonsei University.

This program is made possible with the support and co-sponsorship with Columbia University's APEC Study Center.