CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION
Research Background
This research stems from reflecting the challenges in planning, implementing and evaluating Malaysia’s foreign policy. In facing the increasingly dynamic domestic and international environments, Malaysia is expected to employ proactive, realistic and pragmatic foreign policy approaches.
2. An essential approach is to balance Malaysia’s domestic political, security, economic and social interests with international concerns. Malaysia’s primary interest has been to maintain international peace, security and stability, particularly in Southeast Asia. Malaysia therefore is expected to maintain its commitment in mitigating any threats and potential flashpoints in the region.
3. Beyond the region, Malaysia has been supporting to preserve peaceful international order by way of denouncing, for example, inter-state aggression, terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. In pursuing to maintain international peace, the conduct of Malaysia’s foreign policy aims to promote and protect Malaysia’s national interests at home and abroad.
Research Questions
4. In studying the possible future directions of Malaysia’s foreign policy, this research seeks to answer three (3) questions, namely:
4.1. What are the determinants of Malaysia’s foreign policy?
4.2. What are the foreign policy areas that Malaysia should prioritize in the future?
4.3. How can Malaysia conduct its foreign policy more effectively considering current and future challenges?
Research Objectives
5. Pursuant to the aforementioned research questions, the objectives of this research are threefold, namely:
5.1. To review Malaysia’s foreign policy goals, agendas and strategies;
5.2. To identify ways to enhance coor...
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...xpect battle for fuel and commodities to escalate, including for resources in the South China Sea. As overlapping claims in the seas of ASEAN remain contentious, Malaysia continues to support initiatives for peaceful dialogues and resolutions.
Directions Towards 2020 and Beyond
36. The earlier discussion on bilateral diplomacy, multilateral diplomacy and ASEAN presents the current objectives and challenges faced by Malaysia’s foreign policy. With less than six (6) years to 2020, it is arguable that Malaysia needs to already start addressing its strategic interests as a high-income developed country. The progress towards becoming a developed country calls for shifts in certain aspects of Malaysia’s foreign policy. In the effort to build a proactive, realistic and pragmatic plan of action, Malaysia needs to anticipate pertinent scenarios towards 2020 and beyond.
Throughout the 20th century, successive presidents pursued foreign policy in different ways but with one objective and that is to make America the most powerful nation on earth. Despite the challenges of each administration during this century, presidents found a way to put American at the frontline as the undisputed super power. President Taft pursued an aggressive foreign policy by introducing dollar diplomacy which was meant to encourage U.S. investments in the Latin America and the Caribbean. He used government officials to promote this policy in hope that it will create markets for American products in the region. President Wilson made a promise to the American people that he will focus on domestic policy agenda and rarely will his administration
Mingst, K. A. (2011). Essentials of international relations. (5th ed., p. 81). New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.
Shiraev, Eric B., and Vladislav M. Zubok. International Relations. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.
The end of the Cold War brought a dramatic turn in the world history. The collapse of bipolar balance brought the need to normalize poor diplomatic relations and also to reassure and mature pre-existing strong diplomatic ties between states. Japan was certainly not an exception to this need. The importance of playing a lager role in regional and global security as a way of ensuring its security interests grew in Japan as the proceeding balance of power, or pre-existing security, became unreliable to her. Indeed, she initiated the regional security entity called the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) to strengthen Asia-Pacific security. But why did Japan take the role to propose such an institution? What is Japan’s stake in this regional security entity? Why is the entity based on multilateralism? And finally, how much can the ARF achieve to strengthen Asia security?
Goldstein, Joshua S. and Jon C Pevehouse. International Relations, Brief Fifth Edition, 2010-2011 Update. Longman, 2011.
The perception of the global interests of America is shaped by the desired future that the American political elite is envisioning. A viable foreign policy strategy then will be simply the roadmap for achieving, to the greatest extent possible, the objectives which are substantiated by that desired future starting from the present condition of the international landscape. The means to achieve these objectives are determined by the relative power capability that America has at present, as well as the capability self-image in the context of the international landscape of the political elite; its world view. The prevailing world view often shapes the motivations of the decision-makers and consequently determines the perceived foreign policy objectives , as well as the very means to achieve these objectives.
In conclusion realist and liberalist theories provide contrasting views on goals and instruments of international affairs. Each theory offers reasons why state and people behave the way they do when confronted with questions such as power, anarchy, state interests and the cause of war. Realists have a pessimistic view about human nature and they see international relations as driven by a states self preservation and suggest that the primary objective of every state is to promote its national interest and that power is gained through war or the threat of military action. Liberalism on the other hand has an optimistic view about human nature and focuses on democracy and individual rights and that economic independence is achieved through cooperation among states and power is gained through lasting alliances and state interdependence.
To understand the international relations of contemporary society and how and why historically states has acted in such a way in regarding international relations, the scholars developed numerous theories. Among these numerous theories, the two theories that are considered as mainstream are liberalism and realism because the most actors in stage of international relations are favouring either theories as a framework and these theories explains why the most actors are taking such actions regarding foreign politics. The realism was theorized in earlier writings by numerous historical figures, however it didn't become main approach to understand international relations until it replaced idealist approach following the Great Debate and the outbreak of Second World War. Not all realists agrees on the issues and ways to interpret international relations and realism is divided into several types. As realism became the dominant theory, idealistic approach to understand international relations quickly sparked out with failure of the League of Nation, however idealism helped draw another theory to understand international relations. The liberalism is the historical alternative to the realism and like realism, liberalism has numerous branches of thoughts such as neo-liberalism and institutional liberalism. This essay will compare and contrast the two major international relations theories known as realism and liberalism and its branches of thoughts and argue in favour for one of the two theories.
Roskin, M., & Berry, N. (2010). IR: The new world of international relations: 2010 edition (8th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Longman/Pearson Education.
Lastly, but most importantly, understanding the culture and its background provides a valuable insight and an ‘umbrella theme’ of a country. According to Geert Hofstede’s Cultural dimensions, Malaysia has one of the highest power distance index in the world, with one of the lowest uncertainty avoidance index. It is highly related to the beliefs of Islam and this creates a society where leaders have virtually ultimate power and authority, and the rules, laws, and regulations developed by those in power, reinforce their own leadership and control. It is not unusual for new leadership to arise from armed insurrection – the ultimate power, rather than from diplomatic or democratic change .
Mingst, K. (2011). Essentials of international relations. (5th ed., p. 70-1). New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company
The relationship and cooperation in handling the issue in Southern Thailand between Malaysia and Thailand government since a long time ago, has become disappointed, frustration and unsatisfied. This is might be best description that has been looked up since the working relations between past Thai governments and their Malaysian counterparts was comes to Southern Thailand (Thanet, 2013). For the Thailand government, cooperation with the Malaysian authorities is really needed while in dealing with the separatist insurgents that often to the slip across the porous border from Thailand. Meanwhile, for the Malaysian side, through the sharing of same ethnicity and Islamic religion in the Southern Thai Muslims, was means that their politicians ought to have a key role to play in understanding and resolving insurgency issues in Southern Thailand. Therefore, it might can be seem in logically think that, without the help by the Malaysian government, the issues that regards to Muslim separatist moments in the Deep South would be difficul...
Another important factor promoted globalization is called the ‘World Politics’. Foreign policymakers are facing a challenge of a fundamental change in nowadays ...
The study of international relations takes a wide range of theoretical approaches. Some emerge from within the discipline itself others have been imported, in whole or in part, from disciplines such as economics or sociology. Indeed, few social scientific theories have not been applied to the study of relations amongst nations. Many theories of international relations are internally and externally contested, and few scholars believe only in one or another. In spite of this diversity, several major schools of thought are discernable, differentiated principally by the variables they emphasize on military power, material interests, or ideological beliefs. International Relations thinking have evolved in stages that are marked by specific debates between groups of scholars. The first major debate is between utopian liberalism and realism, the second debate is on method, between traditional approaches and behavioralism. The third debate is between neorealism/neoliberalism and neo-Marxism, and an emerging fourth debate is between established traditions and post-positivist alternatives (Jackson, 2007).
Weber, Smith, Allan, Collins, Morgan and Entshami.2002. Foreign Policy in a transformed world. United Kingdom: Pearson Education Limited.