Kishore Mahbubani and the Asian Century

Kishore Mahbubani is widely regarded as one of Asia’s most well-known diplomats, commentators, and strategic analysts. Having grown up in poverty in Singapore in the 1950s, however, there was nothing preordained about Mahbubani’s success.

But over the course of the second half of the twentieth century, he would go on to become one of the most recognizable and revered diplomats of his generation.

Mahbubani served in Cambodia, Malaysia, and the United States. He was Permanent Secretary at the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs and twice served as the country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. He later served as founding dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

Mahbubani chronicles his life journey in a new memoir titled, Living the Asian Century: An Undiplomatic Memoir.

Mahbubani’s journey mirrors Singapore’s own metamorphosis and the book sheds equal light on Mahbubani’s life as it does the Asian country’s own improbable evolution.

To talk more about the book, Kishore Mahbubani joins Milan on the podcast this week. They discuss Kishore’s childhood poverty, his “Indian soul,” and his lifelong interactions with former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Plus, Milan and Kishore discuss the explosion of cultural self-confidence in Asia and what this means for the emerging world order.

Episode notes:

1. [open access] Kishore Mahbubani, The Asian 21st Century (Springer, 2022).

2. Kishore Mahbubani, “It’s Time for Europe to Do the Unthinkable,” Foreign Policy, February 18, 2025.

3. Tony Chan et al., “America Can’t Stop China’s Rise,” Foreign Policy, September 19, 2023.

4. Kishore Mahbubani and Lawrence H. Summers, “The Fusion of Civilizations: The Case for Global Optimism,” Foreign Affairs (May/June 2016).