POINTER is the professional military journal of the Singapore Armed Forces. It publishes peer-reviewed, professional articles that explore, among others, military history, strategy, operations, leadership, and defence policy, with a strong emphasis on regional security dynamics in Southeast Asia.
For Australian Defence readers, POINTER offers more than allied alignment. It provides a distinct strategic and cultural perspective shaped by Singapore’s geography, history, and defence posture. Many articles examine familiar problems—coalition warfare, counter-insurgency, civil-military relations, and strategic competition—from analytical frameworks that differ from Anglo-American traditions, making the journal a valuable comparative resource for Joint Professional Military Education.
The Forge highlights the latest POINTER articles to broaden professional debate and encourage readers to engage with regional military scholarship that is both rigorous and practically grounded.
Featured articles
November 2025 - Explaining Communist Success in the Chinese Civil War
SAFI MI Library - Explaining Communist Success in the Chinese Civil War/ LTC Adelbert Tan
Abstract:
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s victory over the Nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) during the Chinese Civil War marked one of the largest reversals in military history. While a multitude of factors have been cited as contributing to this outcome, this article will investigate the significance of peasant-centred politics in explaining Mao Zedong’s triumph. The article first examines the political and military-strategic aspects of Mao’s success. Next, the article expounds upon the significance of circumstantial factors surrounding this outcome and analyses it through the lenses of peasant/non-peasant factors and KMT weaknesses. Ultimately, while peasant-centred politics formed the bedrock of Communist strength, Mao’s triumph was precipitated by a combination of wider political, military-strategic , and circumstantial factors.
Why it matters:
This article provides historical analysis relevant to contemporary discussions on revolutionary warfare, legitimacy, and mobilisation. Its insights support deeper understanding of strategic endurance and political warfare in long-term conflicts.
October 2025 - Population-Resettlement Initiatives for Counter-Insurgency Purposes in Malaya and South Vietnam: A Comparative Study
Abstract:
In the mid-20th century, the governments of Malaya and South Vietnam initiated population-resettlement programmes as part of their overall efforts to fight the ongoing communist insurgencies in their countries. The British colonials housed hundreds of thousands of Chinese squatters in “New Villages”, a move which contributed significantly towards the defeat of the communist insurgency. Similarly, the South Vietnamese government began the “Strategic Hamlet” programme to cut ties between villagers and insurgents. However, this initiative soon proved to be an ill-fated, abject failure, and quickly faded into oblivion. This dichotomy between the two population-resettlement programmes stemmed from two main reasons: the different implementations of the resettlement programmes by their respective governments and the differing reactions of the people being resettled.
Why it matters:
By comparing two major counter-insurgency campaigns in the region, this study examines the strategic, ethical, and operational implications of population control measures. The analysis offers enduring lessons for modern stabilisation and security operations.