The Great Power Show: Bilahari Kausikan on Competition being the Natural State of the World

As great power rivalry deepens, old assumptions are crumbling, and the rules of the international order are up for renegotiation. This moment demands a more clear-eyed realism—one that sees the world not as we wish it to be, but as it is. In this episode of The Great Power Show, Manoj Kewalramani speaks to former Singaporean diplomat Bilahari Kausikan, who is among the world’s most incisive geopolitical thinkers. They discuss the return of great power politics, the failure of diplomacy to keep up with structural shifts in power, and why Southeast Asia’s experience navigating external pressures holds broader lessons for the world.

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