COMMENT | Will joining Brics help Malaysia’s economy?

COMMENT | The world is divided. Take a look at how everyone is divided on different political sides. There is the current most obvious which is the divide between Palestine and Israel.

Then, there is the divide between the United States of America and Russia, the divide between the US and China, and the divide between Russia and Ukraine.

As an independent and sovereign nation, how does a country like Malaysia, or any other country that isn’t a superpower, navigate its way in the global scene and strategise its international relations?

It would seem like everywhere you go would be a case of “Damned if you do and damned if you don’t”. Maybe a more accurate way is how former US president George W Bush put it - you’re either with us or you’re not.

Malaysia has many contradictory stances. They are contradictory according to the different major opinion holders, of course, and not contradictory from a Malaysian standpoint.

For example, the US is one of our largest trade partners, yet, we...