SINGAPORE PERSPECTIVE

Singapore covers the NATO crisis through three complementary angles in the Straits Times: the threat to Spain, Macron's Athens speech, and Rubio's absence from Iran negotiations. This third angle is most revealing. The Straits Times details that Rubio, Secretary of State, has not attended recent rounds of Iran negotiations, nor discussions on Ukraine, nor even visited the Middle East since a brief stop in Israel in October. By comparison, Blinken completed 11 trips in four months.

Trump has delegated diplomacy to Steve Witkoff, a billionaire real estate friend from New York, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner. Witkoff and Kushner are leading discussions with Israel, Ukraine, Russia, and Iran. An analyst quoted by the Straits Times notes that Rubio is 'consumed' by his dual role as Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, but the reality is starker: Trump lacks confidence in his own professional diplomatic apparatus.

For Singapore, a city-state that survives through multilateral architecture, the collapse of American diplomatic process sends alarm bells. If the world's foremost power's chief diplomat no longer participates in negotiations, the entire edifice of treaty diplomacy falters. The Straits Times also notes that Spain is a 'reliable' member of NATO — an adjective Singapore, a nation obsessed with reliability, does not deploy lightly.