Bilahari Kausikan spent his 37-year career in Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), holding key roles at home and abroad. He served as Ambassador to Russia, Permanent Representative to the UN, Deputy Secretary for Southeast Asia, Second Permanent Secretary, and later, Permanent Secretary. After retiring in 2013, he was Ambassador-at-Large until 2018.

In 2017, he became Chairman of the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore. He retired in 2024 but remains a Distinguished Fellow.

Mr. Kausikan has published three books—Dealing with an Ambiguous World (2016); Singapore Is Not An Island (2017), and Singapore Is Still Not An Island

(2023)—along with numerous articles. He continues to lecture on global geopolitics and regional affairs at universities, corporations, and financial institutions in Singapore and abroad.