Singapore: Background and U.S. Relations (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised July 20, 2016 |
| Report Number |
R44127 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Emma Chanlett-Avery, Specialist in Asian Affairs; Ben Dolven, Specialist in Asian Affairs; Wil Mackey, Research Associate |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
A former trading and military outpost of the British Empire, the tiny Republic of Singapore has transformed itself into a modern Asian nation and a major player in the global economy, though it still substantially restricts political freedoms in the name of maintaining social stability and economic growth. Singapore's heavy dependence on international trade makes regional stability and the free flow of goods and services essential to its existence.
As a result, the island nation is a firm supporter of the U.S. security role in Asia, but it also maintains close relations with China. The Obama Administration's strategy of rebalancing U.S. foreign policy priorities to the Asia Pacific enhances Singapore's role as a key U.S. partner in the region. A formal strategic partnership agreement between the United States and Singapore outlines access to military facilities, cooperation in counterterrorism and counter-proliferation, joint military exercises, policy dialogues, and shared defense technology.
Singapore also supports U.S. international trade policy. Singapore and the United States are among the 12 countries on both sides of the Pacific involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is the centerpiece of the Obama Administration's economic rebalance to Asia. In 2013, Singapore was the 17th-largest U.S. trading partner with $49 billion in total two-way goods trade, and the country remains a substantial destination for U.S. foreign direct investment. The U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA) went into effect in January 2004, and since then trade has burgeoned between the two countries.
Singapore's People's Action Party (PAP) has won every general election since the end of the colonial era in 1959, aided by a fragmented opposition, Singapore's economic success, and electoral procedures that strongly favor the ruling party. Some point to changes in the political and social environment that may herald more political pluralism, including generational changes and an increasingly international outlook among Singaporeans. In May 2011, opposition parties claimed their most successful results in history, taking 6 of Parliament's 87 elected seats. Though this still left PAP with an overwhelming majority in Parliament, the party described the election as a watershed moment for Singapore and vowed to reform the party to respond to the public's concerns.
In March 2015, Lee Kuan Yew, who was Singapore's Prime Minister from 1959 to 1990, passed away. He wasâand still isâconsidered the founder of modern Singapore, and he is credited with transforming Singapore from an English colony into one of the world's wealthiest and least corrupt countries. His son, Lee Hsien Loong, is Singapore's current Prime Minister.
