Thammasat University students interested in ASEAN studies, Malaysia, political science, foreign policy, and related subjects may find it useful to participate in a free 16 July Zoom webinar on Malaysian Foreign Policy under Anwar: Performance, Identity and the Politics of Survival.
The event, on Tuesday, 16 July 2024 at 9am Bangkok time, is presented by ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore.
The TU Library collection includes several books about different aspects of Malaysian foreign policy.
Students are welcome to register for the event at this link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_d-dNoV0HSUikrAErfTYkzA#/registration
As explained on the event website,
About the Seminar
For decades, Malaysian foreign policy has been anchored on three pillars: proactive regionalism with its Southeast Asian neighbours and ASEAN-plus partners; prudent equidistance vis-à-vis the big powers; and pragmatic statecraft towards Muslim, non-aligned, and/or developing countries across the Global South. Under the present Anwar Ibrahim administration, the need to cope with external uncertainties and domestic political exigencies has deepened Malaysia’s active macro-neutrality, while widening its inclusive but selective micro-multilayered partnerships across domains with players near and far.
Anwar’s more active and visibly confident diplomacy has brought Malaysia back to regional and international attention. It has restored a degree of internal stability and arrested downward trends since February 2020 (when a backdoor power grab kick-started rounds of political infighting and government changes), while raising external hopes and anticipation as Malaysia prepares to assume its ASEAN Chairmanship in 2025.
This seminar unpacks the factors driving and limiting the Anwar administration’s active, inclusive and selective foreign policy postures. It argues that while the style of Malaysia’s foreign policy has been coloured by Anwar’s personality, its substance has been motivated and constrained primarily by structural and domestic reasons. A proactive and prudently inclusive foreign policy is needed for mitigating the multiple systemic risks surrounding the US-China rivalry, but also for maximising the concrete benefits needed to boost the Anwar-led Unity Government’s political survival at home, with an eye to winning Malaysia’s next general election.
About the Speaker
Dr Kuik Cheng-Chwee is Professor of International Relations at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), National University of Malaysia (UKM).
Last year, an article was posted on the website of The Diplomat:
Recapping the First Year of Malaysia’s Foreign Policy Under Anwar Ibrahim
The Malaysian leader has increased his country’s diplomatic focus on ASEAN and the Middle East, while balancing between the major powers.
Last November, Anwar Ibrahim was elected as Malaysia’s 10th prime minister, at a turbulent time both domestically and internationally. Malaysian politics was in turmoil following the “Sheraton move” of 2020, which disposed of the 22-month-old Pakatan Harapan government.
Over the next two years under the Perikatan Nasional government, the COVID-19 crisis, economic pressures, political infighting, and another change in government dominated Malaysian politics, pushing foreign policy to the backburner. Against this turbulent backdrop, Malaysians sought a leader who could provide stability while also elevating the country’s international presence. The nation was not so much seeking a strongman as competent and effective leadership, at home and abroad.
In this context, Anwar’s election was a welcome one, raising hopes that increased political stability would allow his government to address the country’s various foreign policy challenges.
The new government unveiled quickly the “Malaysia Madani” slogan, which aspires for a civil and inclusive nation. For foreign policy, this meant speaking up when necessary and actively pursuing Malaysia’s national interests through diplomacy.
A year later, Malaysia’s foreign policy has been noticeably more active. While this is encouraging, some of the prime minister’s actions have raised questions.
Anwar’s Foreign Policy Priorities
Anwar’s foreign policy priorities have had three main areas of focus: the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Middle East, and major power relations.
After taking office, Anwar made it a priority to cultivate close relations with heads of ASEAN member states. Within his first year, he visited all ASEAN countries with the exception of Myanmar. Anwar also held a meeting with Timor-Leste’s Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Jakarta in September. Timor-Leste currently holds an observer status in ASEAN and aims to join the bloc by 2025, when Malaysia next holds the rotating chairmanship. This intensive regional diplomacy is unprecedented for a Malaysian prime minister and demonstrates Anwar’s commitment to the bloc.
Malaysia has also upheld its stance on the Myanmar issue. Anwar has been particularly vocal on the country’s humanitarian crisis and has expressed disappointment in the lack of progress of the Five-Point Consensus. Arguing that “non-interference is not a licence for indifference,” Anwar has urged other ASEAN leaders to hold the junta accountable for its human rights violations in Myanmar, raising the issue during meetings with Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo, President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines, and Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
After ASEAN, the Middle East has seen the most official visits by the Malaysian prime minister. During his first year in office, Anwar has made trips to Turkey, Egypt, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, as well as attended forums including the emergency Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting and the ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit, both of which were held in October of this year. […]
Also last year, on the website of the The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS) or Wilson Center, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, a blog asked:
How Will Malaysia’s Foreign Policy Under Anwar Ibrahim Play Out?
While Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s recent foreign overseas trips have produced no shortage of headlines, they have also raised a broader question about how Malaysia’s foreign policy may play out under his leadership. This dynamic bears careful watching, both due to Malaysia’s own regional and global significance as well as wider trends at play in the Indo-Pacific region and the international system more generally.
While there has been some continuity in Malaysia’s foreign policy over the past five decades on general priorities – including managing ties with neighboring states, expanding the country’s role in key regional and global fora and an attempt to maintain equidistance between major powers, including the United States and China – there has also been some change amid that continuity. Following Malaysia’s foreign policy under Najib Razak (2009-2018), who was ousted following a shock election in May which brought the Pakatan Harapan government to power under former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, we saw the beginning of what looked like some key contours of thinking, with the release of documents such as a defense white paper and new foreign policy frameworks in 2019 and 2021. Yet the downfall of the PH government in 2020, and the short terms of Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri before Anwar Ibrahim’s victory elections last year, have seen the country consumed by domestic political shifts amid changes in its external environment. […]
(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)