Malaysia's national security: Rhetoric and substance

Contemporary Southeast Asia

Volumn 26, Issue 1, 2004, Pages 1-25

  Singh, Hari ^a  

^a UNIVERSITI KEBANGSAAN MALAYSIA   (Malaysia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 85048941601     PISSN: 0129797X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1355/CS26-1A     Document Type: Article

References (102)

1. 1.Arnold Wolters, "National Security as an Ambiguous Symbol", in Discord and Collaboration: Essays on International Politics (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1962), Chapter 10.
2. 3.See also KJ. Holsti, International Politics: A Framework for Analysis, 5th edition (Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall, 1988), pp. 124-27.
3. 4.Edward Azhar and Moon Chung-In, National Security in the Third World (London: Edward Elgar, 1988), p. 2.
4. 5.These are modified categorizations based on Holsti's conceptualization. See Holsti, International Politics, pp. 127-35.
5. 6.Theodore A. Couloumbis and James Wolfe, Introduction to International Relations: Power and Justice, 4th edition (Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall, 1990), p. 69.
6. 7.Hans J. Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace (New York: Alfred Knopf, 1973).
7. 8.Hans J. Morgenthau, "Another 'Great Debate': The National Interest of the United States", American Political Science Review 46, no. 4 (1952), pp. 961-78.
8. 9.Mohammed Ayoob, The Third World Security Predicament: State Making, Regional Conflict, and the International System (London: Lynne Rienner, 1995), Chapter 1.
9. 10.George Maclean, "Instituting and Projecting Human Security: A Canadian Perspective", Australian Journal of International Affairs 54, no. 3 (November 2000), p. 270.
10. 11.Harold Brown, Thinking About National Security: Defense and Foreign Policy in a Dangerous World (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1983), Chapter 1.
11. 12.Jessica T. Matthews, "Redefining Security", Foreign Affairs 68, no. 2 (Spring 1989), pp. 162-77 and "Power Shift", Foreign Affairs 76, no. 1 (January/February 1997), pp. 50-66.
12. 13.Malaya, Singapore and the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak were British colonies. Malaya was given independence in 1957. As part of the decolonization process, these states were amalgamated in 1963 into a broader federation, Malaysia. Singapore was evicted from the federation in 1965. For convenience, the term "Malaysia" will be retained unless there is a need to be precise.
13. 14.Malaysia had only one army division at the time of its independence. See J. Saravanamuttu, The Dilemma of Independence: Two Decades ofMalaysia's Foreign Policy, 1957-1977 (Penang: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 1983), pp. 21-24.
14. 15.Its members included Malaysia, Singapore, and the ANZUK contingent comprising Britain, Australia and New Zealand. Refer to Chin Kin Wah, The Defence of Malaysia and Singapore: The Transformation of a Security System, 1957-1971 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983).
15. 16.George Modelski, "SEATO: Its Functions and Organization", in SEATO: Six Studies, edited by George Modelski (Melbourne: F.W. Cheshire, 1962), p. 6.
16. 17.Charles E. Morrison and Astri Suhrke, Strategies of Survival: The Foreign Policy Dilemmas of Smaller Asian States (St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1978), p. 152.
17. 18.Stephen M. Walt, The Origins of Alliances (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1987).
18. 19.Bernard K. Gordon, The Dimensions of Conflict in Southeast Asia (Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall, 1966), Chapter 6. Apart from Malaysia, ASA included Thailand and the Philippines, members of SEATO.
19. 20.Hari Singh, "Malaysia and the Communist World, 1968-81" (Ph.D. Dissertation, La Trobe University, 1988), p. 68.
20. 21.Chandra Muzaffar, Protector (Penang: Aliran, 1979).
21. 22.Stephen Chee, "Malaysia's Changing Foreign Policy", in Trends in Malaysia II, edited by Yong Mun Cheong (Singapore: Singapore University Press for ISEAS, 1974), p. 41. On Dulles, see Ole R. Holsti, "The Belief System and National Images", in International Politics and Foreign Policy: A Reader in Research and Theory, edited by James N. Rosenau, revised edition (New York: Free Press, 1969), p. 546.
22. 23.Hari Singh, "Malaysia and the Cold War", Diplomacy & Statecrafi 6, no. 2 (July 1995): 512-35.
23. 24.Singh, "Malaysia and the Communist World", pp. 80-81.
24. 25.Robin W. Winks, "Malaysia and the Commonwealth", in Malaysia — A Survey, edited by Wang Gungwu (Melbourne: F.W. Cheshire, 1964), p. 381.
25. 26.Morrison and Suhrke, Strategies of Survival, pp. 194 and 207.
26. 27.J.A.C. Mackie, Konfrontasi: The Indonesia-Malaysia Dispute, 1963-1966 (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1974) and Peter Boyce, Malaysia and Singapore in International Diplomacy: Documents and Commentaries (Sydney: Sydney University Press, 1968), p. 140.
27. 28.Morrison and Suhrke, Strategies of Survival, pp. 242^13.
28. 29.Saravanamuttu, Dilemma of Independence, p. 22.
29. 30.W. W. Rostow, The Stages of Economic Growth (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1960).
30. 31.Joseph S. Nye, "United States Policy Toward Regional Organization", International Organization 23 (Summer 1969): 719-40.
31. 32.Earl Ravenal, "The Nixon Doctrine and our Asian Commitments", Foreign Affairs 49, no. 2 (January 1971): 201-17.
32. 33.Philip Darby, British Defence Policy East of Suez, 1947-1968 (London: Oxford University Press, 1973).
33. 34.David Hawkins, The Defence of Malaya and Singapore: From AMDA to ANZUK (London: Royal Institute for Defence Studies, 1972).
34. 35.United States Foreign Policy, 1968-1970: A Report of the Secretary of State (Washington, D. C: U.S Government Printing Office, March 1971), p. 60.
35. 36.Chin Kin Wah, "Five Power Defence Arrangement: Twenty Years After", Pacific Review 4, no. 3 (1992), pp. 199-200. The Australian presence is often used to mediate the recurrent hiccups between Malaysia and Singapore from the late 1980s onwards. The intervening role is confirmed by the command structure of the Integrated Air Defence System that is usually headed by an Australian.
36. 37.Australia was reluctant to issue a firm guarantee with regard to the defence of the East Malaysian states. Hawkins, Defence of Malaya and Singapore, p. 37.
37. 38.Boyce, Malaysia and Singapore, p. 170.
38. 39.For details, see Ghazali Shafie, "Neutralization of Southeast Asia", Pacific Community 3, no. 1 (October 1971): 110-17. The impracticality of neutralizing an entire region resulted in the neutralization proposal being diluted into a "Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality" for Southeast Asia.
39. 40.Amitav Acharya, "Regionalism and Regime Security in the Third World: Comparing the Origins of the ASEAN and the GCC", in The Insecurity Dilemma: National Security of Third World States, edited by Brian L. Job, pp. 143-64 (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1992).
40. 41.The main developments in this regard were the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation and the Declaration of ASEAN Concord in 1976. For details, see ASEAN Documents Series, 1967-1986, revised edition, pp. 32-37.
41. 42.Amitav Acharya, Constructing a Security Community in Southeast Asia (London: Routledge, 2001).
42. 43.On ASEAN's potential as a security community, see Amitav Acharya, "The Association of Southeast Asian Nations: 'Security Community' or 'Defence Community'?", Pacific Affairs 21, no. 4 (Winter 1995): 210-16.
43. 44.Vietnam invasion of Cambodia in December 1978 was followed by a punitive Chinese strike against Vietnam in February 1979. For an analytical account of events leading to the Third Indochina War, see The Third Indochina Conflict, edited by David W.P. Elliott (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1981).
44. 45.Singh, "Malaysia and the Communist World", Chapter 6. Even though ASEAN was conceived of as a vital component of Malaysia's national security, the former's corporate position on the Cambodian crisis was certainly detrimental to Malaysia's core values. The "Kuantan Principle", co-authored with Indonesia, implied recognition of Vietnam's security interests in Cambodia on condition that Hanoi distanced itself from Moscow. However, Malaysia and Indonesia were eventually overridden by a condominium of powers comprising the "hawks" in ASEAN (Thailand and the Philippines), China and the United States.
45. 46.On the Emergency, see Lucían Pye, Guerilla Communism in Malaya (Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 1956) and Anthony Short, The Communist Insurrection in Malaya, 1948-1960 (London: Fredrick Müller, 1975).
46. 47.Gordon Means, Malaysian Politics (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1976), p. 290 fn. 64.
47. 48.Aziz Ishak, Special Guest: The Detention in Malaysia of an Ex-Cabinet Minister (Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1977); James Wong Kim Min, The Price of Loyalty (Singapore: Summer Times, 1983; and Kassim Ahmad, The Second University: Detention under the ISA (Petaling Jaya: Media Intelek, 1983).
48. 49.Jay Taylor, China and Southeast Asia: Peking's Relations with the Revolutionary Movements (New York: Praeger, 1974), p. 342 and Asia Research Rulletin 4, no. 1 (30 June 1974), col. 2830 A and B.
49. 50.New Straits Times, 20 April 1977, pp. 1 and 28.
50. 51.Gordon Means, Malaysian Politics: The Second Generation (Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1991), pp. 143-^15.
51. 52.Harold Crouch, "The UMNO Crisis: 1975-1977", in Harold Crouch, Lee Kam Hing and Michael Ong, eds., Malaysian Politics and the 1978 Election (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1980), Chapter 2.
52. 53.For details, see R.S. Milne and Diane K. Mauzy, Politics and Government in Malaysia (Singapore: Federal Publications, 1978), pp. 48-76.
53. 54.On ethnic tensions, see Michael Stenson, "The Ethnic and Urban Bases of Communist Revolt in Malaysia", in Peasant Rebellion and Communist Revolt in Asia, edited by John Wilson Lewis (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1974), p. 134 and Cheah Boon Kheng, "Sino-Malay Conflicts in Malaya, 1945-1946: Communist Vendetta and Islamic Resistance", Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 12, no. 1 (1981), pp. 108-17. In 1957, the population of Malaysia comprised 49.8 per cent Malays, 37.2 per cent Chinese, 11.1 per cent Indians, and 1.9 per cent were categorized as "Others". Statistics from Saw Swee-Hock, The Population of Peninsular Malaysia (Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1988), p. 65. On the "special privileges" for the Malays, see Gordon P. Means, "Special Rights as a Strategy for Development", Comparative Politics 5, no. 1 (October 1973), pp. 29-61.
54. 55.On consociationalism, refer to Arend Lijphart, "Consociational Democracy", World Politics 21, no. 2 (January 1969), pp. 207-25 and Eric Nordlingei, Conflict Regulation in Divided Societies (Cambridge, MA: Center for International Affairs, Harvard University, 1972).
55. 56.Hari Singh, "Ethnic Conflict in Malaysia Revisited", Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics 39, no. 1 (March 2001), pp. 42-65.
56. 57.For details, see Karl von Vorys, Democracy without Consensus: Communalism and Political Stability in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur. Oxford University Press, 1976).
57. 58.Tunku Abdul Rahman Al-Haj, Looking Back: Monday Musings and Memories (Kuala Lumpur: Pustaka Antara, 1977), pp. 193-94.
58. 59.In stark contrast, influential elements within UMNO who were associated with Malay militants during the riots were spared arrest.
59. 60.For an excellent account of the immediate post-1969 political developments, refer to Means, Malaysian Politics: The Second Generation, Chapter 1.
60. 62.The CPM finally dissolved itself in 1989.
61. 63.Chandra Muzaffar, Islamic Resurgence in Malaysia (Petaling Jaya: Penerbit Fajar Baku, 1987), Chapter 2.
62. 64.The Malays were overwhelmingly Muslim whereas the greater majority of non-Malays were non-Muslims.
63. 65.On the government's response to Islamic challeges to its rule, refer to Kamarulnizam Abdullah, The Politics of Islam in Contemporary Malaysia (Bangi: Penerbitan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 2003).
64. 66.K. Das and Suaram, eds., The White Paper on the October Affair and the Why? Papers (Selangor: Suaram, 1989).
65. 67.Singh, "Malaysia and the Communist World", pp. 277-84.
66. 68.Hari Singh, "Understanding Conflict Resolution in Cambodia: A Neorealist Perspective", Asian Journal of Political Science 7, no.l (June 1999), pp. 41-59.
67. 69.Hari Singh, "Vietnam and ASEAN: The Politics of Accommodation", Australian Journal of International Affairs 51, no. 2 (July 1997), pp. 215-29.
68. 70.Michael Yahuda, "China: Will it Strengthen or Weaken the Region?, in T.B. Millar and James Walter, eds., Asian-Pacific Security After the Cold War (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1992), pp. 34-35.
69. 71.On conflicting interpretations of the China threat, refer to Denny Roy, "Hegemon on the Horizon? China's Threat to East Asian Security", International Security 19, no. 1 (Summer 1994), pp. 149-68 and Michael G. Gallagher, "China's Illusory Threat to the South China Sea", ibid., pp. 169-94.
70. 72.For a theoretical discussion on unipolarity and alliances, refer to Peter R. Beckman, World Politics in the Twentieth Century (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1984), pp. 238-39.
71. 73.See also Amitav Acharya, "Containment, Engagement, or Counter-Dominance? Malaysia's Response to the Rise of China", in Alastair Iain Johnston and Robert Ross, eds., Engaging China: The Management of an Emerging Power (London: Routledge, 1999), pp. 129-51.
72. 74.Michael Leifer, ASEAN Regional Forum, Adelphi Paper 302, (London: Brassey's for the International Institute for Strategic Studies, 1996), pp. 16-20. Despite China's opposition, the South China Sea dispute was placed on the ARF's agenda during the 1995 meeting. Straits Times, 26 May 1995, p. 4.
73. 75.Leifer, ASEAN Regional Forum, pp. 7 and 15.
74. 76.Amitav Acharya, A New Regional Order in South-East Asia: ASEAN in the Post-Cold War Era, Adelphi Paper 279 (London: Brassey's for the International Institute for Strategic Studies, 1993), p. 57.
75. 77.G. John Ikenberry and Charles A. Kupchan, "The Legitimation of Hegemonic Power", in David P. Rapkin, ed., World Leadership and Hegemony (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1990), pp. 50-52.
76. 78.Donald K. Emerson, "US Policy Themes in Southeast Asia in the 1990s", in David Würfel and Bruce Burton, ed., Southeast Asia in the New World Order (Houndmills: Macmillan, 1996), pp. 116-22.
77. 79.Straits Times, 18 November 1989, p. 15.
78. 80.The Asian Financial Crisis momentarily deflated defence expenditure to RM 4.5 billion in 1998. The figures are computed from the Ministry of Finance Malaysia, Federal Budget (Kuala Lumpur: Government Printer, 1980-2000).
79. 81.J.N. Mak, "The Modernization of the Malaysian Armed Forces", Contemporary Southeast Asia 19, no. 1 (June 1997), pp. 29-51.
80. 82.See report by Coalition for Defence Alternatives, , accessed February 2003.
81. 83.Sukhumbhand Paribatra, "From ASEAN Six to ASEAN Ten: Issues and Prospects", Contemporary Southeast Asia 16, no. 3 (December 1994), pp. 253.
82. 84.Hari Singh, "Hegemons and the Construction of Regions: Southeast Asia as a Case Study", in Sarah Owen Vandersluis, ed., The State and Identity Construction in International Relations (London: Macmillan, 2000), pp. 140-43.
83. 85.The Malaysian Economy in Figures 2001 (Kuala Lumpur: Economic Planning Unit, n.d.).
84. 86.Madu Magnus Emeka. "The Politics and Diplomacy of South-South Cooperation: The Role of Malaysia, Nigeria and the Post-Apartheid South Africa", M.A. Thesis, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 2001, Chapter 4.
85. 87.James H. Mittelman, "Rethinking the 'New Regionalism' in the Context of Globalization", Global Governance 2, no. 2 (May-August 1996), pp. 190-93.
86. 88.Paul Bowles, "ASEAN, AFTA and the 'New Regionalism'", Pacific Affairs 70, no. 2 (Summer 1997), p. 226. On the EAEC and Malaysia's interests, see Nordin Sopiee, EAEC: Fact and Fiction (Kuala Lumpur: ISIS Malaysia, 1996). On ASEM and Malaysia's interests, see Stuart Harris, "Asian Multilateral Institutions and their Responses to the Asian Economic Crisis: The Regional and Global Implication", Pacific Review 13, no. 3 (2000), pp. 495-516.
87. 89.The CEPT stipulates the progressive reduction of tariffs to 5 per cent by the year 2008.
88. 90.Harold Crouch, Government & Society in Malaysia (New South Wales: Allen & Unwin, 1996), pp. 181-85.
89. 91.Zakaria Haji Ahmad, "Stability, Security and National Development in Malaysia: An Appraisal", in Kusuma Snitwongse and Sukhumband Paribatra, eds., Durable Stability in Southeast Asia (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1987), p. 121.
90. 92.Straits Times, 24 November 1999, p. 38.
91. 93.Anwar Ibrahim, The Asian Renaissance (Singapore: Times Books International, 1996), 97. On ersatz capitalism, see Yoshira Kunio, The Rise of Ersatz Capitalism in Southeast Asia (Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1988).
92. 94.Edmund Terence Gomez, Politics in Business: UMNO's Corporate Investments (Kuala Lumpur: Forum, 1990). Also see Mark Beeson, "Mahathir and the Market: Globalization and the Pursuit of Economic Autonomy in Malaysia", Pacific Affairs Ti, no. 3 (Fall 2000), pp. 335-51.
93. 95.Richard Falk, "Regionalism and World Order after the Cold War", Australian Journal of International Affairs 49, no. 1 (May 1995), p. 5.
94. 96.Aliran Monthly 9, no. 1 (1999), p. 11.
95. 97.Aliran Monthly 18, no. 3 (1998), pp. 2-5.
96. 98.Shastri Ramachandaran, "Mahathir's Mantra: Resonances beyond Malaysia", Himal 13, no. 8 (August 2000), p. 45.
97. 99.Hari Singh, "Democratization or Oligarchic Restructuring? The Politics of Reform in Malaysia", Government and Opposition 35, no. 4 (Autumn 2000), pp. 520-46.
98. 100.Meredith L. Weiss, "The 1999 Malaysian General Elections: Issues, Insults and Irregularities", Asian Survey 40, no. 3 (May/June 2000), pp. 413-35.
99. 101.Star, 29 December 2001, p. 1 and Aliran Monthly 22, no. 1 (2002), pp. 31-32.
100. 102.Aliran Monthly 21, no. 3 (2001), pp. 2-6.
101. 103.Star, 29 October 2001, p. 1.
102. 104.Revised version of a paper presented at the First Southeast Asian Conflict Studies Network (Malaysian National Workshop), Penang, 7-9 November 2001. The author would like to thank Kamarulzaman Askandar and Amitav Acharya for the development of this paper.