LETTER | Open letter to foreign minister

LETTER | The new political leadership heralds a new critical need for a reimagination and orientation of our foreign policy, long beheld by the conventional dogma of self-trapping and stagnation.

For decades, we have been traditionally known as the voice and champion of the developing world, regional organisations and the Muslim world, through the approaches of different premierships and agenda pursuits, and our strict adherence to centrality and non-alignment has been our hallmark.

It is time that we look beyond this and transcend to a new pervasive overview. In facing the new dawn of challenges and threats, we should not be confined to the conventional barrier and direction of the past, if we are indeed serious about elevating our international profile as a respected middle power.

Under this new leadership, the personal dignified personality and appeal of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim play a significant factor that reverberates the world over, and it signals the need for a new shift in the strategic pursuit of our global perception, position and recognition.

In line with the moral high road taken and the value-based path as espoused by Anwar’s good governance umbrella, a three-pronged approach is needed as the basis for our new pillars of foreign policy and presence.

Firstly, to restore the country’s image and standing and regain trust and confidence.

Secondly, repair and enhance ties with key players and review our current approach to China and the West, with impartial and serious considerations on our own interests and survival as the first basis of a Malaysia First doctrine.

Thirdly, to elevate Malaysia’s standing, role and position as a progressive, democratic and influential middle power that has firm guiding principles of true freedom and democracy and respect for human rights, with good governance and integrity and conviction of purpose for global progress and peace.

It serves as a beacon of hope and support to humanity and civilisations, amidst great uncertainties and a more precarious threat setting ahead.

While Asean has been earmarked as the foremost importance for our next priority, we need to strategically leverage our trusted allies who are both capable and effective in providing support and trust to our long-term needs. In looking beyond Asean, a more comprehensive bedrock of stability and trusted consistency will provide us with the needed assurances in both economic and security umbrellas.

The West and the US remain our foremost capable and trusted partners in this regard, and we need to be wise and future-driven in casting our policy, especially in the way we treat our partners in the West, after decades of non-alignment and years of China pandering.

Beyond that, we need to bolster and elevate our international profile and reputation, setting out to repair the decades of the tainted image that has been dominated by the ingrained rock bottom perception of our state of corruption, kleptocratic nature of governance and tainted leaders that have framed the profile and stature of Malaysia for years.

By transforming Malaysia’s global standing and perception, the first priority would be to capture hope, trust, confidence and desire by key players and institutions in choosing Malaysia as their key destination for economic, trade and investment options.

We have to project a new Malaysia, on a true reformation and transformation of the full spectrum of economic, political and socio-cultural indicators – one which is fully able and ready to play its role as an impactful middle power able to fully chart its own course without kowtowing to any state’s coercive, intimidating or deceitful behaviour.

A foreign policy orientation that is in line with Anwar’s legacy and track record of standing up for fairness, justice, inclusivity, peace and adherence to law and norms is vital in capitalising on his established and proven reformist profile based on unyielding principles.

The onus is on him and the foreign minister to reorient the role, influence and standing of Malaysia in the eyes of the world to one which is rooted on the basis of a modern, progressive, inclusive, and clean state of government governed by the rule of law and sanctity of democratic principles.

This will propel the country to the moral high road and in galvanising support with the West in a collective determination to salvage and strengthen democratic ideals and functions against the onslaught of autocratic forces.

We need to be wiser, and more strategic with greater urgency in elevating our bargaining power and cards, especially in key strategic areas and capacities and critical resources including growing our semiconductor capacity and our leadership in food and energy security that will ensure our domestic needs and external stakes.

A Malaysia First doctrine, similar to the America First approach espoused by former president, Donald Trump, remains the way to go. With our long-term survival at stake, our interests and sovereignty must remain supreme regardless of the depth of our historical ties or feeling the pressure to cave-in to the demands and dictate of certain powers.

If we want to promote our influence and soft power, we must have the audacity to stand up for equal representation of peace, justice, respect, rules adherence, principles and human rights as much as we stood up for Palestine and the Muslim world all along, we must equally apply that to all states and cases, including China.

Being silent on the Uyghur issue in Xinjiang or any other debacles in China but remaining vocal and uncompromising in other similar issues including the Palestinian cause rings a huge bell of hypocrisy and the glaring reality of us compromising our principles and values for the sake of the fear on inciting China’s wrath. We cannot have our cake and eat it too.

A growing number of states are realising, albeit too late, the futility of their past approach to China, which they have started reviewing the scope and direction of the ties and security approaches with Beijing including the UK, Canada, Japan and many others.

We must move away from being seen just as the voice or the saviour of the Muslim or the developing world, we must have the audacity and unyielding in upholding universal norms and values, and not acting out of fear or submission and coercion.

To do that, we must face the truth that we remain minnows in defence and security and we will be hapless in case of any real all-out affront or war, especially in facing a direct threat or ripple effects from a regional conflict.

We cannot defend ourselves against the might of China or the missiles of Pyongyang, and we have to rely on external powers that are trusted and uphold international norms and order.

The US remains the only power that is now both ready and capable of any eventuality to help us defend and safeguard our survival and interests, yet we have been too pushful in admonishing the Americans and even chastising them in accusing them of trying to push us into a corner in their containment efforts against Beijing.

America remains the world's sole superpower which will continue to uphold the global order based on rules, respect for human rights, and upholding freedom and democracy. Its much-perceived decline remains a myth, as reality now kicks in on the importance of its role and duty and on the criticality of its devotion and commitment to preserving the rules-based order centred on peace and stability.

In outright blaming Washington for its readiness to show deterrence and military support to us during the West Capella incident as a case in point, we shot ourselves in the foot and bypassed the whole picture.

More than US$200 million in security and military assistance packages and donations have been provided to us during the past years, and various military exchanges and training have been in place in bolstering our readiness and capacity which have been well-received and appreciated by our military community who is acutely aware of the real threats and risks involved on the ground, but sadly ignored and unduly received by our political establishment with its strict non-alignment approach.

We have been far too complacent and ignorant, and grow overconfident in relying on quiet and backdoor diplomacy and hedging against big powers with the hope of getting the perceived consistent returns.

We have been reliant on and blinded by the idealistic and utopian belief in engaging through confidence-building mechanisms and dialogue initiatives and choose to ignore the urgent reality and threat settings on the ground, placing hope on China’s own self-restraint and its somewhat projected ability to refrain from further challenging our interests.

A far-fetched utopian belief in the realm of international politics where only permanent interests exist, not permanent friends or enemies.

Yet, we are quick to dispel efforts and concerns of the West on the state of affairs in the region that will affect our interests and security and brush them off as just another ploy by the West in using us and the region in their grand geopolitical chessboard in containing Beijing, a narrative that has long been espoused by China with its victim card cry and in which we are happy to follow along.

For as long as we are under the orbit of China with its ingrained influence and grip, with the ignorance and apathy of not wanting to face the truth and reality, we will remain trapped under this dogma of archaic self-trap.

By continuing to hedge and to play it safe by being deafeningly silent on anything China-related, it is a recipe for long-term policy disaster.

When push comes to shove, it comes down to trust in choosing our long-term allies and partners, in giving them the trust to play by the rules and to secure our needs and assurances.

The hard truth remains that we critically need Washington as our trusted partner not only in security and economic terms but more importantly, in the building of sustainable and future-driven progress based on the moral high road.

We do not have the luxury of second chances or time to play by the wrong card or to assume that our current orientation will be the right choice in the long future.

It is equally counterproductive to adhere to the long-held perspective and global bandwagon for the past decades that China’s rise is inevitable and that we need to mould our policy based on that fact that has somehow been cast in stone. All at the same time assuming that the West and the US are fast losing their long-term appeal, to be dwarfed by the might and sustaining lustre of Beijing.

Value-based investment in the right partner pillared on unyielding ideals of conviction for a rules-based international order, peace, stability and progress that are based on democratic freedom, good governance and respect for human rights and dignity will shape our security and international recognition.

Easy, fast and addictive capital and support from Beijing might seem the easiest way out of our current economic debacle and for internal political survival and needs, but it comes with great risks at the expense of our overarching survival.

The world and the security architecture are changing rapidly, and we will be left behind should we be stuck in the conventional mentality and dogma of power trap and fear.

It remains to be seen if we have our final liberation and audacity of change in charting our own path and interests, in breaking free from external coercion and influence.

For this, we need more than a political will alone, we need a foreign policy spectrum that is grounded by the wishes, concerns and demands of the people across the country and not confined to the select few and elites in the policymaking sphere and the core team in Wisma Putra.

It is high time that we put the people and the country first and raise public discourse, awareness and resonance in our foreign policy, as a much-needed break from the almost universal public ignorance and apathy in our foreign policy discourse.

We need wise, futuristic and strategic adaptation and audacity to reorient our approach, and it is finally time to make Malaysia Great Again, charted by our renewed international profile and recognition that are moulded by an open, inclusive and democratic process.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.