Malaysia's Foreign Policy, the First Fifty Years : : Alignment, Neutralism, Islamism / / Johan Saravanamuttu.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Asian Studies Backlist (2000-2014) eBook Package
• VerfasserIn: Saravanamuttu, Johan,
• MitwirkendeR: Saravanamuttu, Johan,
• Place / Publishing House: Singapore : : ISEAS Publishing, , [2010]; ©2010
• Year of Publication: 2010
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (416 p.)

This book captures Malaysia's foreign policy over the first fifty years and beyond since the date of the country’s formal independence in 1957. The author provides "macro-historical" narratives of foreign policy practices and outcomes over distinct time periods under the tenures of the five prime ministers. One chapter delves into relations with immediate neighbouring states and another chapter analyses the political economy of foreign policy. A postscript deals with the transition of foreign policy beyond the fifth decade. The concluding chapter suggests that Malaysian middlepowermanship has been in the making in foreign policy practice being particularly evident since the Mahathir years. Employing a critical-constructivist approach throughout the study, the author posits that foreign policy should be appreciated as outcomes of socio-political-economic processes embedded within a Malaysian political culture. In terms of broad policy orientations, Malaysian foreign policy over five decades has navigated over the terrains of neutralism, regionalism, globalization and Islamism. However, the critical engagement of civil society in foreign policy construction remains a formidable challenge.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- PREFACE -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- ABBREVIATIONS AND GLOSSARY -- 1. Introduction: Framing the Study of Foreign Policy -- 2. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs -- 3. Engaging the Cold War 1957–63 -- 4. Transition to Neutralism 1964–69 -- 5. Constituting Change with Innovation 1970–75 -- 6. Consolidating Regionalism in a Changing World, 1976–77 -- 7. Confronting Globalization with Iconoclasm, 1981–96 -- 8. Crisis, Recovery, and Denouement of an Era, 1997–2003 -- 9. Embedding Islam, Embracing Globalization, 2004–08 -- 10. Explaining Relations with Neighbours: Antipathies of History, Ethnicity, and Intimacy -- 11. The Political Economy of Foreign Policy: Dilemmas of a Developmental State -- 12. Postscript: The Leadership Change 2009 -- 13. Conclusion: Middlepowermanship in Foreign Policy -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- Index -- ABOUT THE AUTHOR