IntroductionOnly its 50th anniversary, Singapore has been through a roller coaster ride, having had confrontations with superpowers, pushing for sanctions and enjoying warming ties with its neighbors. I argue that Singapore's foreign policy must always be exceptional to succeed. Exceptionalism – defined in relation to theories about the limited nature of small state behavior – involves actions contrary to these expectations, possibly requiring small states to deliberately, proactively and tactfully seek influence and influence. The intrinsic and unique challenges of Singapore's foreign policy – ​​which are colored by the structural disadvantages of small states – in relation to its objectives that these difficulties hinder the pursuit of, require that it always be exceptional to close this gap. First, the challenge lies in how, because of its size, it faces vulnerabilities and the risk of no longer being relevant to other powers. Second, its geopolitical environment hostile to small states provides the backdrop for its external affairs. Third, due to the outward orientation of its national development model, it must interact and assert itself within the framework of a foreign policy biased against small states. These foreign policy challenges hinder the achievement of its objectives, the maintenance of sovereignty and the satisfaction of the needs necessary for the prosperity of its society, which require the promotion of economic and political objectives in the international domain. To resolve the tensions between these paradoxical challenges and objectives, Singapore cannot fail to demonstrate exceptionalism. Moreover, there appears to be a lack of viable alternatives to exceptionalism. Although strategic resources, ties to major powers, and reliance on multilateral institutions may allow it to circumvent the weaknesses of small states, they fail to provide...... middle of paper ...... the decoupled nature of Singapore's domestic and foreign affairs is not enough. this necessarily means that it may not achieve exceptionality. Conclusion There is a striking disconnect between Singapore's foreign policy challenges and objectives. As a small state, it suffers from inherent vulnerabilities and the risk of irrelevance; The challenges arising from its size are compounded by its hostile geopolitical environment and its need to constantly interact with its foreign policy environment due to its outward orientation. As these challenges pose contradictions to the pursuit of its foreign policy objectives, it must always be exceptional to succeed. It appears to lack viable alternatives to exceptionalism, to the extent that its most promising options – relying on its strategic resources, its multilateral institutions or the strategy of the great powers – do not allow it to escape the weaknesses of small states..