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Rostam Affendi
Rostam Affendi
Rostam Affendi
MAHATHIR MOHAMAD
PROJECT PAPER SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER IN STRATEGY AND DIPLOMACY
FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES UNIVERSITI KEBANGSAAN MALAYSIA BANGI 2002
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the work in this project paper is my own except for quotations and summaries, which have been duly acknowledged.
20 May 2002
ABSTRACT
Malaysia under the administration of Dato' Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
emphasized more on multilateral diplomacy after initial skepticism of its worth. This could be seen by analyzing Malaysia's foreign relation behaviours conducted at the three organizations reviewed, the NAM, the G-15 and the UNCHR. Malaysia's active participation in those organizations reflected the growing salience of multilateral diplomacy in Malaysia's foreign policy under Dr. Mahathir's administration. This paper attempts to answer three aspects of the perceived increase in importance of multilateral diplomacy under Dr. Mahathir's rule. Firstly, in what ways and to what extent has multilateral diplomacy gained prominence in Malaysia's foreign policy under Dr. Mahathir's administration? Secondly, how has multilateral diplomacy helped to achieve Malaysia's foreign policy goals? And thirdly, what are the underlying factors that led to the increasing salience of multilateral diplomacy in Malaysia's foreign policy? The findings of the paper are, from being minimally active at the beginning of Dr. Mahathir's administration Malaysia's foreign policy, later became more active in multilateral diplomacy in the three organizations studied. Further, its active participation in these organizations has also helped to achieve Malaysia' foreign policy goals especially those related to ensure high growth for its economy and to champion the rights of the developing countries. Factors in all three levels, individual, state, and international system, have also affected Malaysia's foreign policy behaviours towards a greater salience on multilateral diplomacy. Additionally, it was found out also that some factors have greater effect while others have less impact on Malaysia's participation in the three multilateral organizations analyzed. It cab be concluded that the idiosyncratic factor of Dr. Mahathir has a major impact in shaping Malaysia's foreign policy behaviours towards all three organizations. On the other hand, the domestic factors such as the changing socio-economic base of the country affected Malaysia's participation in both NAM and G-15 while the gradual emergence of a civil society affected Malaysia's actions in UNCHR. Meanwhile at the third level of analysis, the international environment has generally impacted on Malaysia participation at all three organizations.
CONTENTS
ii iii iv
v
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
vii
1
Problem Statement Objectives and Scope Theoretical Framework Definitions of Concepts Methodology Significance of the Study Literature Review Organization of Chapters
4 6 8 10 12 14 14 19
20
Introduction
Period of Tunku Abdul Rahman Period of Tun Abdul Razak
20
21 27
29
33
CHAPTER 3: MULTILATERAL DIPLOMACY UNDER DR. MAHATHIR MOHAMAD 3.1 3.2 Introduction Foreign Policy
33 35
38 39 42 44
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS
47
47 48 63
4.4
68
73
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION
ANNEX
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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81