Ian Explains

Name: Singapore thrived on globalization. Now what?
Uploaded: 2026-01-30T20:05:01Z
Description: Singapore was one of globalization’s biggest beneficiaries. Ian Bremmer looks at whether the city-state can survive in a world where the economic order that drove Singapore's rapid rise starts to unravel.

On Ian Explains, host Ian Bremmer makes complex issues about global politics understandable. Ian Explains is a weekly segment on GZERO WORLD with Ian Bremmer, GZERO's weekly program about global news and current affairs.

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Singapore thrived on globalization. Now what?

Singapore is obsessed with order. From steep finds for littering to harsh punishments for vandalism, cleanliness and discipline are treated as civic duties, not personal choices. On Ian Explains, Ian Bremmer breaks down how that impulse for control reflects a deeper national instinct—one that over the last century has helped Singapore turn itself from a poor island outpost into a global success story shaped by geography, trade, and relentless pragmatism.

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Singapore thrived on globalization. Now what?

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