This
RSIS Working Paper issue no. 250 dated 5 November 2012 by KUIK
Cheng-Chwee entitled Malaysia’s U.S. Policy under Najib: Ambivalence No
More? can be accessed by clicking: http://www.rsis.edu.sg/publications/workingpapers/wp250.pdf
This paper adopts a neoclassical realist perspective to explain Malaysia’s evolving policy towards the United States under Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. It argues that to the extent that there is a “shift” in Malaysia’s U.S. policy under the current leadership, the substance and symbolism in Najib’s U.S. policy has been driven and limited by the needs of the ruling elite to strike a balance between a variety of structural imperatives and domestic considerations. Structurally, in the face of a fast rising China (with whom Malaysia has come to develop an increasingly productive relation in both economic and diplomatic domains, but with whom it has unresolved territorial issues), the leader of the smaller state is increasingly confronted with the geostrategic need to keep a more balanced relationship with all the major players. This is especially so with the United States, which, under the Obama administration’s “pivot” to Asia policy, has demonstrated a renewed and enhanced commitment to engage countries in the Asia-Pacific, including Malaysia. This structural push, however, has been counteracted by the smaller state’s desire of not wanting to be entrapped in any big power rivalry, and by its concern about the uncertainties of great power commitments. Domestically, there is a strong economic need to further enhance two-way trade and increase the flow of American capital and technology into Malaysia, deemed vital to Najib’s Economic Transformation Program. Perhaps more importantly, there is also a political calculation by the governing elite to capitalize on the increasingly warm and close bilateral ties as a leverage to reduce – if not neutralize – Washington’s support for the Anwar Ibrahim-led opposition and civil society movements, which have presented a growing challenge to the ruling BN coalition. This calculation, however, has been counteracted by UMNO’s domestic concern of not wanting to appear too closely aligned with America, in order not to alienate the country’s Muslim majority voters who have been critical of U.S. policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These structural and domestic determinants together explain Malaysia’s evolving policy toward the superpower under the current leadership.
The author would like to thank Khong Yuen-Foong, Tang Siew Mun, and Ruhanie Ahmad for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper. He gratefully acknowledges the support provided by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education’s Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (Code: FRGS/1/2012/SS04/UKM/02/1). He also thanks Wong Chee Ming for his research assistance. All shortcomings are the author’s own.
Click on the following link to download the working paper
http://www.rsis.edu.sg/publications/workingpapers/wp250.pdf
Bio
KUIK Cheng-Chwee is a Post-doctoral Visiting Research Fellow at the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, and concurrently an Associate Member of the Nuffield College. He is on research leave from the National University of Malaysia (UKM), where he serves as an Associate Professor at the Strategic Studies and International Relations Program. He received his PhD from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies, in Washington, DC, and an M.Litt. in International Security Studies from University of St. Andrews. Dr. Kuik researches on smaller states’ alignment behavior, Southeast Asia-China relations, and Asia-Pacific security. His publications include: “Multilateralism in China’s ASEAN Policy” (Contemporary Southeast Asia, April 2005), “China’s Evolving Multilateralism in Asia” (in Calder and Fukuyama, East Asian Multilateralism, 2008), and “The China Factor in the U.S. ‘Reengagement’ with Southeast Asia: Drivers and Limits of Converged Hedging” (Asian Politics and Policy, 2012). His article “The Essence of Hedging: Malaysia and Singapore’s Response to a Rising China” (Contemporary Southeast Asia, August 2008), which was part of his dissertation, was awarded the 2009 Michael Leifer Memorial Prize by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Cheng-Chwee is currently working on a book manuscript, based on his dissertation. He can be contacted at cckuik@gmail.com.
No. 250 dated 5 November 2012
Malaysia’s U.S. Policy under Najib: Ambivalence No More?
By KUIK Cheng-Chwee
Malaysia’s U.S. Policy under Najib: Ambivalence No More?
By KUIK Cheng-Chwee
This paper adopts a neoclassical realist perspective to explain Malaysia’s evolving policy towards the United States under Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. It argues that to the extent that there is a “shift” in Malaysia’s U.S. policy under the current leadership, the substance and symbolism in Najib’s U.S. policy has been driven and limited by the needs of the ruling elite to strike a balance between a variety of structural imperatives and domestic considerations. Structurally, in the face of a fast rising China (with whom Malaysia has come to develop an increasingly productive relation in both economic and diplomatic domains, but with whom it has unresolved territorial issues), the leader of the smaller state is increasingly confronted with the geostrategic need to keep a more balanced relationship with all the major players. This is especially so with the United States, which, under the Obama administration’s “pivot” to Asia policy, has demonstrated a renewed and enhanced commitment to engage countries in the Asia-Pacific, including Malaysia. This structural push, however, has been counteracted by the smaller state’s desire of not wanting to be entrapped in any big power rivalry, and by its concern about the uncertainties of great power commitments. Domestically, there is a strong economic need to further enhance two-way trade and increase the flow of American capital and technology into Malaysia, deemed vital to Najib’s Economic Transformation Program. Perhaps more importantly, there is also a political calculation by the governing elite to capitalize on the increasingly warm and close bilateral ties as a leverage to reduce – if not neutralize – Washington’s support for the Anwar Ibrahim-led opposition and civil society movements, which have presented a growing challenge to the ruling BN coalition. This calculation, however, has been counteracted by UMNO’s domestic concern of not wanting to appear too closely aligned with America, in order not to alienate the country’s Muslim majority voters who have been critical of U.S. policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These structural and domestic determinants together explain Malaysia’s evolving policy toward the superpower under the current leadership.
The author would like to thank Khong Yuen-Foong, Tang Siew Mun, and Ruhanie Ahmad for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper. He gratefully acknowledges the support provided by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education’s Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (Code: FRGS/1/2012/SS04/UKM/02/1). He also thanks Wong Chee Ming for his research assistance. All shortcomings are the author’s own.
Click on the following link to download the working paper
http://www.rsis.edu.sg/publications/workingpapers/wp250.pdf
Bio
KUIK Cheng-Chwee is a Post-doctoral Visiting Research Fellow at the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, and concurrently an Associate Member of the Nuffield College. He is on research leave from the National University of Malaysia (UKM), where he serves as an Associate Professor at the Strategic Studies and International Relations Program. He received his PhD from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies, in Washington, DC, and an M.Litt. in International Security Studies from University of St. Andrews. Dr. Kuik researches on smaller states’ alignment behavior, Southeast Asia-China relations, and Asia-Pacific security. His publications include: “Multilateralism in China’s ASEAN Policy” (Contemporary Southeast Asia, April 2005), “China’s Evolving Multilateralism in Asia” (in Calder and Fukuyama, East Asian Multilateralism, 2008), and “The China Factor in the U.S. ‘Reengagement’ with Southeast Asia: Drivers and Limits of Converged Hedging” (Asian Politics and Policy, 2012). His article “The Essence of Hedging: Malaysia and Singapore’s Response to a Rising China” (Contemporary Southeast Asia, August 2008), which was part of his dissertation, was awarded the 2009 Michael Leifer Memorial Prize by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Cheng-Chwee is currently working on a book manuscript, based on his dissertation. He can be contacted at cckuik@gmail.com.
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