NGOEI Wen-Qing
Wen-Qing Ngoei is a historian of foreign policy and international affairs, specialising in U.S.-Southeast Asia relations. His expertise includes the global history of the Cold War, and the study of empire and decolonisation. He received his PhD in History from Northwestern University and completed postdoctoral stints at Northwestern as well as Yale University. His book, Arc of Containment: Britain, the United States, and Anticommunism in Southeast Asia (Cornell University Press) traces how British neocolonialism intertwined with Southeast Asian anti-communist nationalism to usher the region from formal colonialism to U.S. hegemony. He has written on the Sino-U.S. rivalry, the domino theory, British neocolonialism, and race and imperialism in Southeast Asia, and his essays appeared in anthologies and journals such as The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War, Diplomatic History, and The American Historical Review. Currently, his research examines the intersections between diplomatic history and culture in Singapore-superpower relations from Cold War to present, analysing high policy alongside film, art, and culture-making in the city-state’s foreign relations. See https://www.linkedin.com/in/wen-qing-ngoei/.
Qualifications
- PhD in History, Northwestern University, USA, 2015
- MA in History, Northwestern University, USA, 2010
- PgD, National Institute of Education, Singapore, 2002
- BA, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 2000
Research Interests
- U.S. Foreign Relations History and American Empire
- Decolonisation
- Comparative Colonialism
- Global Cold War
- Race and Diaspora
Course(s) Taught in SMU
- Big Questions
- Making Peace in, and with, a World at War
Research Areas and Areas of Expertise
Strategic Priorities
HighlightsWidely recognized for advancing nuanced understanding of Southeast Asia’s Cold War history and its contemporary relevance; combines archival research with interdisciplinary approaches; influential in shaping discourse on regional identity, U.S. and British imperial legacies, and Singapore’s geopolitical positioning; recipient of multiple fellowships and awards for research and teaching excellence.
Focused research areas include Examines the interplay of British and American anticommunist strategies in Southeast Asia, the regional impact of Cold War legacies, nationalism, neocolonialism, and the cultural production of Southeast Asian identities; current projects explore Singapore’s role between superpowers and the evolution of regional order.
- Lee Kong Chian Fellow (Singapore Management University), 2023-2026
- Ministry of Education (MOE) Tier-1 Academic Research Fund for "ASEAN and the Cultural Production of Southeast Asian Identities in the late Cold War," 2022-2024
- MOE Tier-1 Academic Research Fund for "Anglophone Speculative Fiction in late Cold War Southeast Asia," 2021-2022
- MOE Tier-1 Academic Research Fund for "ASEAN writers and artists in the post-Vietnam War world," 2020-2021
- Global and Diversity Scholars Fellowship from the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR), 2018-19
Showing up to 6 latest publications from the past 5 years.
- J LuczakFrontiers in Environmental Science 13, 1574595, 2025
- J LuczakEthics & Bioethics 15 (3-4), 220, 2025
- J LuczakThe Palgrave Handbook of Environmental Policy and Law, 1-20, 2024
- J LuczakInternational conference on Model-Based Reasoning, 18-34, 2023
- J LuczakAsian Journal of Philosophy 2 (1), 7, 2023
- J LuczakOpen Universe, 2022
Wen-Qing Ngoei is a historian of foreign policy and international affairs, specialising in U.S.-Southeast Asia relations. His expertise includes the global history of the Cold War, and the study of empire and decolonisation. He received his PhD in History from Northwestern University and completed postdoctoral stints at Northwestern as well as Yale University. His book, Arc of Containment: Britain, the United States, and Anticommunism in Southeast Asia (Cornell University Press) traces how British neocolonialism intertwined with Southeast Asian anti-communist nationalism to usher the region from formal colonialism to U.S. hegemony. He has written on the Sino-U.S. rivalry, the domino theory, British neocolonialism, and race and imperialism in Southeast Asia, and his essays appeared in anthologies and journals such as The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War, Diplomatic History, and The American Historical Review. Currently, his research examines the intersections between diplomatic history and culture in Singapore-superpower relations from Cold War to present, analysing high policy alongside film, art, and culture-making in the city-state’s foreign relations. See https://www.linkedin.com/in/wen-qing-ngoei/.
Qualifications
- PhD in History, Northwestern University, USA, 2015
- MA in History, Northwestern University, USA, 2010
- PgD, National Institute of Education, Singapore, 2002
- BA, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 2000
Research Interests
- U.S. Foreign Relations History and American Empire
- Decolonisation
- Comparative Colonialism
- Global Cold War
- Race and Diaspora
Course(s) Taught in SMU
- Big Questions
- Making Peace in, and with, a World at War