Malaysia “Punching above its Weight” … and Finally Hitting the Target

Summary

Malaysia's longest-serving Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohammad, crafted a threepillar strategy for Malaysia to “punch above its weight” and better secure its interests in the region. The first was through entrenching strong bilateral relationships with traditional security and economic partners such as America and Japan, in addition to a strong economic and diplomatic relationship with a rising China. The second was to use regional multilateral forums to engage and bind larger powers to agreed rules of engagement, hence enhancing the leverage of smaller Southeast Asian states; as well as to extend Malaysian influence within these forums. The third pillar was to enhance Malaysian regional and global influence by exercising leadership in non-traditional groupings; for example Malaysia's role in promoting South-South cooperation, relating to economic and technical cooperation amongst developing nations. Another was Malaysia's standing as one of the leaders within the fifty-seven member-state Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which Malaysia chaired from 2003 to 2007.

Although Malaysia did indeed “punch above its weight”, the most important factor for stability in a region filled with existing and emerging giants is still America. It is well known that almost all Southeast Asian countries are pursuing some variation of a grand hedging strategy against possible future Chinese mischief: benefit as much as possible from China's rise but also hedge against the possibility of a disruptive China in the future by supporting U.S. primacy and engagement in Asia.

Both Mahathir and his successor Abdullah Badawi understood the benefits of an engaged America in Asia and the importance of the U.S.-Malaysia bilateral relationship. But in the process of enhancing its Islamic credentials to the OIC (as well as his own political domestic credentials to a majority Islamic audience), Mahathir's diplomacy often deviated from the script, launching several provocative, unnecessary, and indulgent public attacks on American foreign policy and values; despite continuing to nurture the bilateral relationship behind the scenes.