主流國際關係學者認為，美國在冷戰時期尊重英國在新加坡的殖民地位，故不干涉英國內政，也不介入獨立前新加坡的政治。此外，由於李光耀的反共形象，學者亦少質疑他與美國的友誼；而族群與意識形態接近的台灣，也常被認為與李光耀交好。本文以檔案與國際關係文獻為核心，回顧1950年代李光耀與英國、美國及台灣之間的關係，尋找李光耀不同的面貌。 本文發現李光耀因其行為親北京，使英國與美國產生很大的爭辯，導致美國介入新加坡政治，迥異於主流學者的認知。身為殖民主的英國熟悉新加坡的華人認同政治，認為李光耀是機會..

Many scholars concur US acceptance of Britain’s colonial policies during the Cold War, and therefore rarely study the phenomenon of American intervention in British internal affairs especially with regard to pre-independence Singapore politics. Moreover, because of popular perceptions of Lee Kuan Yew's anti-communist stance, scholars seldom question his relationship with Washington. Taiwan, due to its ethnic and ideological proximity with Singapore, was also widely believed to be friendly towards Lee. Using archival research, this..