Evolution of Malaysian Foreign Policy

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EVOLUTIONOFMALAYSIANFOREIGNPOLICY
Foreign policy is not static. Its formulation is essentially a dynamic process. Hence, over the
years, our foreign policy has evolved, taking account of the change in leadership as well as
developments in the everchanging global political and economic landscapes. Moreover, the
adventofglobalisationandthetransformationofinterstaterelationsbroughtaboutbynewand
rapidchangesininformationtechnologies,necessarilymeansthatourforeignpolicyhastobe
adjustedandfinetunedtomeetnewchallengesinaglobalisedworld.
Photo:SirLeslieMunroeofNewZealand,PresidentoftheUnitedNationsGeneralAssembly,
congratulatingTunDr.IsmailAbdulRahman,aftertheflagofthenewlyindependentMalayan
Federation(NowMalaysia)wasraisedinaceremonyattheUNHeadquartersinNewYorkon
October15,1957.
ThestyleandapproachesinenunciatingMalaysia'sforeignpolicymaydifferinkeepingwiththe
personality of each past and present prime minister of Malaysia. A critical examination of
Malaysia'sforeignpolicysince1957wouldshowitssteadyevolutioncharacterisedbynotable
changes in emphasis, which took place with the change in Malaysia's political stewardship.
Briefly
a) In the period 19571969, our country has just gained its independence. During this post
independence period, under our first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra AlHaj, our
foreign policy was geared towards the survival of our newly independent nation. Our foreign
policy then was markedly antiCommunist and prowestern in posture with close links to the
Commonwealth. We were also a strong opponent of apartheid. Our posture towards regional
cooperation also began to take root with the birth of ASA (1960), MAPHILINDO (1963) and
ASEAN(1967).
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Photo:TunkuAbdulRahman,firstYangdiPertuanAgongTuankuAbdulRahmanand
MacGillivraystandingoutsidetheKingsHouseinKualaLumpuraftersigningtheMerdeka
AgreementonAug5,1957.
b) In the period 1970 1976, under Tun Abdul Razak, as a member of the Organisation of
IslamicConference(OIC),Malaysiabegantoidentifyitselfasa"Muslimnation."Thesearchfor
newfriendssubstantiallyincreasedtheimportanceofNAMtoMalaysia.Webecamemarkedly
nonaligned and postured towards neutrality, peaceful coexistence and independence. We
alsobegantodistanceourselvesfrommajorpowers,putstrongemphasisonregionalismand
developedcontactsanddiplomaticrelationswithcommunistcountries.Investmentsfromother
thanBritishsourcesbegantobealsowelcomed.
Photo:ThesecondPrimeMinisterofMalaysia,TunAbdulRazak,addressestheMeetingof
ASEANForeignMinistersinKualaLumpuron26November1971.
c) A period of consolidation ensued under Tun Hussein Onn (19761981) with ASEAN
becomingthecornerstoneofMalaysia'sforeignpolicyfollowingthecollapseofSaigon(nowHo
ChiMinhCity)in1975,thewithdrawaloftheUSmilitarypresencefromSoutheastAsiaandthe
invasionofKampuchea(nowCambodia)byVietnam.TheFirstASEANSummitwasheldand
Malaysia signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Bali in 1976. Further emphasis on
independence,nonalignmentandequidistancefromthemajorpowerswasalsomade.
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Photo:ThethirdPrimeMinisterofMalaysia,TunHusseinOnn,addressingthe13thASEAN
MinisterialMeetinginKualaLumpuron25June1980.
d)AmoredramaticshiftinemphasisoccurredwhenTunDr.MahathirMohammadtookoveras
the fourth Prime Minister in 1981. Malaysia's foreign policy stance began to take a much
greatereconomicorientationthaneverbefore,coupledwithastrongandnationalisticdefence
oftherights,interestsandaspirationsofdevelopingcountriesandtheadvocacyofsouthsouth
cooperation.TunDr.Mahathir'spremiershipsawthepursuitofnumerousnewinitiativessuch
as:
AntarcticaastheCommonHeritageofMankind.
TheLookEastPolicy(LEP).
Championing of the cause of developing countries on major social issues like
environment,humanrightsanddemocracy.
Withtheadventofglobalization,Malaysiansidentifiedboththebeneficialandadverse
impactofglobalizationtothedevelopingcountries.
ProactiveandpassionateapproachonApartheidandPalestinianissues.
IslamicUnityChairmanshipandhostingofthe10thOICSummit,hostingof1stExpo
OIC,formationofD8.
InternationalpeaceandsecurityMalaysiasmembershipinUNSC,peacekeepingrolein
a number of countries such as Cambodia, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Namibia and East
Timor.Malaysiaalsoactivelychampionedagainstselectivity,doublestandardsandpre
emptiveactionoutsidetheambitoftheUN.
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Photo:ThefourthPrimeMinisterofMalaysia,TunDr.MahathirMohamad,addressingthe
CommonwealthHeadsofGovernmentMeeting(CHOGM)inKualaLumpuron19October
1989.
TerrorismMalaysiaforgedstrongregionalandinternationalcooperationincombating
terrorism, strongly advocated against profiling by religion or ethnicity, proposed
multifaceted approach in combating terrorism including identifying and eliminating the
root causes, hosted OIC Foreign Ministers Meeting on Terrorism in 2002, established
SEARCCTtoprimarilyfocusontrainingandcapacitybuilding.
OpeningofNewFrontiers:
ActivebilateralengagementswithAfrican,LatinAmericanandEasternEuropecountries,
particularly in trade, investment and transfer technology in the spirit of SouthSouth

Cooperation. Includes opening of Diplomatic Missions and extension of Malaysian
TechnicalCooperationProgram(MTCP)inthesecountries.
EconomicOrientation:
EastAsiaEconomicCooperation(fromEAEGtoEAECtoASEAN+3).
Regional Development Cooperation Growth Triangle concept such as IMTGT, IMSGT,
BIMPEAGA.
Groupof15(G15)firstadvocatedbyMalaysia.
Economic diplomacy reverse investment's prosper thy neighbor's, SouthSouth
cooperation, MIGHT, Langkawi International Dialogue (LID), South Africa International
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Dialogue(SAID).
e) In the period 2003 and onwards, under the leadership of Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi,foreignpolicyinitiativeswerefurtherrefinedandfinetunedtoproject:
Pragmaticresponseinmeetingthecurrentgeopoliticalandeconomicchallenges.
MoresophisticatedarticulationofMalaysiasviews.
Substanceasadynamicextensiontoexistingpolicies.
InfluentialleadershiproleasChairoftheNonAlignedMovement(NAM),the
OrganisationofIslamicConference(OIC)andASEANand
MalaysiaasaleadingexampleofatolerantandprogressiveIslamicNationIslam
Hadhari
The evolution of the country's foreign policy under successive prime ministers reflects a
pragmaticresponsetothegeopoliticalandeconomicchangesoftheirtimes.Tobecontinually
relevanttothecountry'sneeds,foreignpolicycannotremainstatic.
But whilst changes in emphasis have become a general feature of Malaysian foreign policy,
continuity has also been evident. Both the change and continuity mark a higher level of
confidence and maturing of the country in the conduct of its international affairs. Indeed, in
manywaysMalaysia'sleadershiprolehasbeenrecognisedonseveralissuesofdeepinterest
tothedevelopingworld.
Photo:TheHonourableFormerPrimeMinisterofMalaysia,DatoSeriAbdullahAhmadBadawi,
addressingtheWelcomingDinnerandtheOpeningCeremonyofthe2007Langkawi
InternationalDialogueonthe5thAugust2007.
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Asatradingnation,weareverymuchdependentonapeacefulinternationalenvironmentfor
ourwellbeing.Naturally,ourforeignpolicyhastobeorientedtoallowforagreaterfocuson
economicdiplomacy.Inthepast,whenwewereproducingmainlyrawmaterialsfortheworld,
Malaysiahadtocompetewithonlyahandfulofcountries.
Butnow,whenwehavebecomeanindustrializedtradingnation,wehavenochoicebuttowork
harder, to compete better and to find new markets for our goods and services. We must find
betterwaystodobusinesswiththeoutsideworld.Weneedtofindnichesinwhichwehavea
competitiveedge.
Towards this end, Malaysia has implemented a number of policies that have a strong foreign
policycomponentthatwillcontributetothecreationofastrong,dynamicandresilienteconomy.
Thesepoliciesincludeamongstothers:
LookEastPolicy
ReverseInvestmentProsperThyNeighbour
MalaysiaIncorporated
SouthSouthCooperation
MalaysianTechnicalCooperationProgramme(MTCP)
LangkawiInternationalDialogue
Sinceassumingthecountry'sleadershipin2010,Malaysia'sforeignpolicy,underthe6thPrime
Minister of Malaysia, YAB Dato Sri Mohammad Najib Bin Tun Abdul Razak, is focused on
creatingastrongandunitedcountryinanincreasinglyinterconnectedworld.
Duringthe7thHeadsofMissionConferenceheldinPutrajayainJune2009,thePrimeMinister
announced that the government would give priority to its public service as he stressed the
importanceofMalaysiatomoveintandemwiththe'1Malaysia,PeopleFirst,PerformanceNow'
theme.HeexpressedhishopethattheseprinciplescanbeinculcatedinallMalaysiansasitis
thebasisoftheformulationofMalaysia'sforeignpolicy.
As how Malaysians work together towards the realization of a united and strong country, the
international community could unite to realize the common goal of creating a prosperous and
harmonious world where each country work together for their mutual benefit and interest.
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Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, Malaysia's foreign policy is also geared towards
transformingMalaysiaintoamodern,dynamicandprogressiveMuslimcountry.
AsoneofMalaysia'seffortsinrejectingextremism,atthe6thSessionoftheGeneralAssembly
oftheUnitedNations,thePrimeMinisterproposedtheestablishmentofaGlobalMovementof
Moderates(GMM).ThisistestimonytoMalaysia'scommitmenttoencouragetheinternational
community to achieve world peace. To mobilize international support for this idea, Malaysia
hostedthefirstInternationalConferenceonGlobalMovementofModerates,inKualaLumpur,
inJanuary2012.
WithregardstoMalaysia'sbilateralrelations,MalaysiaisrenewingitsfocusonbothChinaand
theUnitedStates.Fromtheaspectoftradeandinvestments,continuousmeasuresarebeing
implemented to evaluate the mechanisms, to further improve Malaysia's relationship and
cooperation withcountries from the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. However, the
cornerstone of Malaysia's foreign policy is still centered on the relationship and strategic
cooperationwithMalaysia'straditionalpartners,specificallyASEANcountries,Europe,Japan,
SouthKoreaandIndia.
In principal, under the leadership of YAB Prime Minister Dato Sri Mohammad Najib Bin Tun
AbdulRazak,Malaysiasforeignpolicyprioritiesareasfollows:
Maintainpeacefulrelationswithallcountriesregardlessofpoliticalideologyandsystem
Continue to adopt an independent, nonaligned and principled stance in regional and
internationaldiplomaticaffairs
Develop relations and economic partnership as well as close cooperation with all
countries,especiallywithASEANandregionalpartners
Promotepeaceandstabilitythroughcapacitybuildingmeasuresandconflictresolution
ParticipateactivelyintheUnitedNations
Play a leadership role in international organizations such as ASEAN, the NonAligned
Movement(NAM)andtheOICand
HighlightMalaysiaasamodern,dynamicandprogressiveMuslimstate.
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31/08/2015 www.kln.gov.my/web/guest/evolution?

Championing of the cause of developing countries on major social issues like

particularly in trade, investment and transfer technology in the spirit of SouthSouth

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