Malaysia's Foreign Policy
Malaysia's Foreign Policy

Author: Johan Saravanamuttu

Publisher: Institute of Southeast Asian

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 981427979X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book captures Malaysia's foreign policy over the first fifty years and beyond since the date of the country's formal independence in 1957. The author provides "macro-historical" narratives of foreign policy practices and outcomes over distinct time periods under the tenures of the five prime ministers. One chapter delves into relations with immediate neighbouring states and another chapter analyses the political economy of foreign policy. A postscript deals with the transition of foreign policy beyond the fifth decade. The concluding chapter suggests that Malaysian middlepowermanship has been in the making in foreign policy practice being particularly evident since the Mahathir years. Employing a critical-constructivist approach throughout the study, the author posits that foreign policy should be appreciated as outcomes of socio-political-economic processes embedded within a Malaysian political culture. In terms of broad policy orientations, Malaysian foreign policy over five decades has navigated over the terrains of neutralism, regionalism, globalization and Islamism. However, the critical engagement of civil society in foreign policy construction remains a formidable challenge.

Malaysian Foreign Policy in the Mahathir Era, 1981-2003
Malaysian Foreign Policy in the Mahathir Era, 1981-2003

Author: Karminder Singh Dhillon

Publisher: NUS Press

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 9789971693992

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Summary: "Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is often seen as the sole author of the country's foreign policy. Malaysian Foreign Policy in the Mahathir Era shows that while Mahathir's personality, leadership style, political ideology and brand of nationalism unquestionably had a deep impact, so too did domestic issues and external forces associated with globalization. The book examines seven major foreign policy initiatives of the Mahathir period: Buy British Last, Anti-Commonwealth, Look East, Third World Spokesmanship, Regional Engagement, Islamic Posturing and Commercial and Developmental Diplomacy. In discussing these topics, the author explains the significance for foreign policy of communal concerns, the regime's need to maintain its own authority in the face of political and social initiatives (some rooted in Islam), and its desire to achieve national development. He also discusses external pressures, including Japan's regional designs, Singapore's defense posture and the growing importance of China for the region. The approach breaks away from the elitist decision making styles and single factor models usually employed to explain the foreign policy of developing nations, and establishes a direct link between domestic politics and foreign policy during the period studied, suggesting that the latter was truly an extension of the former."--Publisher description.

China-Malaysia Relations and Foreign Policy
China-Malaysia Relations and Foreign Policy

Author: Razak Abdullah

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-08-11

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 1317571967

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

When Malaysian Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, paid an official visit to China in May 1974, it secured Malaysia a place in the annals of regional diplomatic history as the first ASEAN country to establish full diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. This book analyses the process of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and China, and provides a detailed explanation and understanding of the decision- making process in Malaysia. Shedding light on the roles played by the various principal actors in the process of foreign policy formulation and the influences - both internal and external – that shaped Malaysia’s behaviour, the book highlights why Malaysia decided to pursue a policy of normalisation with China, culminating in the visit in 1974, and in particular why it became the first ASEAN country to establish diplomatic relations with the Chinese. After Malaysia’s recognition of Beijing, two other ASEAN states followed suit, namely Thailand and the Philippines, and the book discusses whether there was some degree of policy coordination amongst ASEAN countries in dealing with China, or if both these countries gave way for Malaysia to be the first. The book also looks at the policy debates within some ASEAN countries regarding relations with China, either conducted officially or unofficially, bilaterally or otherwise. This book will be of interest to scholars of Asian Politics, Asian History, International Relations and Foreign Policy.

Contesting Malaysia’s Integration into the World Economy
Contesting Malaysia’s Integration into the World Economy

Author: Rajah Rasiah

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-05-15

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 9811606501

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book brings together a set of incisive essays that interrogate Malaysian history and social relations which began during pre-colonial times, and extended to colonial and post-colonial Malaysia. It addresses economic misinterpretations of the role of markets in the way colonial industrialisation evolved, the nature of exploitation of workers, and the participation of local actors in shaping a wide range of socioeconomic and political processes. In doing so, it takes the lead from the innovative historian, Shaharil Talib Robert who argued that the recrafting of history should go beyond the use of conventional methodologies and analytic techniques. It is in that tradition that the chapters offer a semblance of causality, contingency, contradictions, and connections. With that, the analysis in each chapter utilises approaches appropriate for the topics chosen, which include history, anthropology, sociology, economics, politics, and international relations. The collection of chapters also offer novel interpretations to contest and fill gaps that have not been addressed in past works. The book is essential reading for history students, and those interested in Malaysian history in particular.

Islam in Malaysian Foreign Policy
Islam in Malaysian Foreign Policy

Author: Shanti Nair

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-01-11

Total Pages: 343

ISBN-13: 1134960999

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A case study of a multi-ethnic Muslim state and a contribution to the study of the domestic functions of foreign policy. The book also addresses the real and imagined significance of Islam as a force in contemporary global politics.

The Working of Malaysian Foreign Policy: A Historical Survey with Case Studies
The Working of Malaysian Foreign Policy: A Historical Survey with Case Studies

Author: Azhari Karim

Publisher: Penerbit USM

Published: 2024-06-07

Total Pages: 131

ISBN-13: 9674618163

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book focuses on new approaches in understanding the changing context of foreign policy decision-making in the country, historically and for the future. From the traditional mode of the domestic, external and personality traits of the respective prime ministers and their governments over the years, and the nature of their responses to keep up with the changes and to maintain continuity woth the past, all have a big influence ont their decisions. In the four case studies presented, the factors of political continuity managed by the leadership and those that emphasise history, decision-making, key issues, and big-picture and paradigmatic analysis, are considered together with the DIY foreign policy of Prime Minister Najib Razak, and the change in continuity foreign policy framework of Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and the short-lived Pakatan Harapan government. The book closes with a look at the future of diplomacy in the world and the region amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the political uncertainties in the present government in the country.

Illusions of Democracy
Illusions of Democracy

Author: Sophie Lemière

Publisher: Amsterdam University Press

Published: 2019-08-14

Total Pages: 381

ISBN-13: 9048542669

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Bringing together a group of both international and Malaysian scholars, this book offers an up-to-date and broad analysis of the contemporary state of Malaysian politics and society. Transcending disciplinary boundaries, it offers a look at Malaysian politics not only through the lens of political science but also anthropology, cultural studies, international relations, political economy and legal studies touching on both overlooked topics in Malaysian political life as well as the emerging trends which will shape Malaysia's future. Covering silat martial arts, Malaysia's constitutional identity, emergency legislation, the South China Sea dilemma, ISIS discourse, zakat payment, the fallout from the 1MDB scandal and Malaysia's green movement, Illusions of Democracy charts the complex and multi-faceted nature of political life in a semi-authoritarian state, breaking down the illusions which keep it functioning, to uncover the mechanisms which really underlie the paradoxical longevity of Malaysia's political, economic and social system.

Transforming Malaysia
Transforming Malaysia

Author: Anthony Milner

Publisher: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies

Published: 2014-02-28

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 9814517917

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In the wake of Malaysia’s 13th General Election some commentators speak of a sharpening of ethnic politics — with Prime Minister Najib blaming a “Chinese tsunami” for his government’s polling setbacks; others are optimistic about the arrival of a new “non-racialized form of politics” and the emergence of “transethnic solidarity”. This book, which engages with both the race paradigm and its opponents, warns that change is likely to come slowly — but is not impossible. Malaysia’s race paradigm is a man-made ideological construct — one that has been contested in the past, and could realistically be contested in the future. In confronting the continuing challenge of globalization, Malaysians should not neglect the history of ideas — and ideology — as they search for new options.

Conflict And Violence In Singapore And Malaysia, 1945-1983
Conflict And Violence In Singapore And Malaysia, 1945-1983

Author: Richard Clutterbuck

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-04-02

Total Pages: 333

ISBN-13: 042971789X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Is there a risk that Malaysia's racial mixture and its weighted political and economic structures could again explode into the kind of violence which, in 1969, was only just prevented from setting the whole country on fire? And has Singapore's success been bought at a price in civil liberties too high for its health in the future? Four years of th