ON MANY FRONTS
have prioritised as the headlinenarratives of the day.
These would include the US, China, Asean countries, India and Saudi Arabia.
With regard to social causes and existing world views, he would have to select the following: with the Asean countries, the facts of geography, history and economics and the regional logic at work; with the US and China, the result of the type of nation branding in use and its effectiveness to the countries and the functioning international logic observed; with China and Asean, the arcs of history; with India and China, that of strategic partnership; with Saudi Arabia, ‘ummatic unity’ with a multilateral twist; and finally with India and Saudi Arabia, their Look East policies.
Having categorised the various country issues and recognising the push factors behind each of the issues as they surfaced this year, the country rolled out the red carpet to welcome King Salman Abdulaziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia on a state visit that saw substantial results for the future of bilateral relations and other international concerns.
When Najib made a successful visit to India, there were high expectations on both sides that it signalled a new beginning founded on the Look East policy adopted by India almost two decades ago.
In the case of moving closer to China, Najib sought to pitch the relations on the facts of history and to work towards capitalising on the rise of the Made-in-China nation branding to fill the void left by the retreating Made-inUSA branding in the region and the world eventually.
China has moved in very creditably by raising the quantum of investments in development infrastructure. This has, of course, led to Jack Ma bringing Alibaba here.
Asean will present a bigger challenge for Malaysia’s foreign policy. The Asean community will now need to harmonise more and avoid treading on one another’s toes.
Member countries will have to accommodate the working out of the facts of geography, history and economics on future development and prepare for changes in the region’s geostrategic environment.
Looking at the future and riding on the present successes of the country’s foreign policy based on the DIY approach and picking on causal layered analysis as practised by Najib, Malaysia is set to take the lead and welcome more countries to look towards the country as a gateway to go eastwards.