Much hype with expectations must be managed for Malaysia-US relations: ISEAS
EXPECTATIONS must be managed even as Malaysia and the United States seek to expand their partnership and explore greater cooperation on converging interests such as public health and maritime issues, said ISEAS-Yusok Ishak Institute in a report.
While Malaysia, like many other countries in South-east Asia and elsewhere, are enthusiastic that "America is back" - primarily because the Biden administration is perceived to be more credible and promises more room for collaboration on key issues - the think-tank warned that collaboration between the two countries is likely to be constrained by competing priorities and persistent gaps on multiple fronts.
These include the gaps between the Biden administration's domestic priorities and external aspirations, the risks of entrapment surrounding the growing US-China rivalry, Washington's episodic attention on South-east Asia, as well as the recurring problems on governance and economic issues at the bilateral level, said authors Kuik Cheng-Chwee, associate professor and head of centre for Asian studies, IKMAS, National University of Malaysia; Abdul Razak Ahmad, the founding director of Bait Al Amanah; and Khor Swee Kheng, a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia and a Senior Visiting Fellow at the UN University International Institute for Global Health.
Broadly speaking, Malaysian policy analysts and experts have expressed high hopes for the Biden administration. On strategic and security fronts, confidence in the Biden administration is also high, as reflected in the State of Southeast Asia: 2021 Survey Report by the Asean Studies Centre, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
According to the survey, which was released in February, as many as 71.7 per cent of Malaysian respondents believe the level of US engagement with South-east Asia under the Biden administration will "increase" or "increase significantly"; and 55.5 per cent express "some confidence" and "full confidence" the US will be a reliable strategic partner and provider of regional security.
On the flip side, there are several enduring gaps and competing prioritisations that will limit how the optimism is translated into desired outcomes.
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Domestic preoccupations such as fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, domestic economic recovery and battling domestic extremism have external ramifications.
The report highlighted the Biden administration's intention to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership as an example. "This is a hard sell because the idea of further trade liberalisation is highly unpopular and hence politically risky in post-Trump America," noted the report.
On the escalating US-China rivalry, there remains deep concern about the risks of becoming the arena for and proxies of major power competition.
"Increased US engagement in South-east Asia is welcome but increased US presence subsumed under US-China rivalry is not," said the report. "Malaysia, like other Asean countries, wants Washington to view South-east Asia in its own right, not as a tool, location or avenue for big power competition."
Looking ahead, ISEAS said that the major challenge facing Malaysia-US relations is Malaysia's domestic political uncertainty.
"If Malaysia fails to get its house in order, all the opportunities and possibilities will be missed," said the report.
It noted that strategically and functionally, concrete inter-governmental collaboration with the United States and other countries remains on a "wait-and-see" basis as foreign countries observe and wait for the formation of a stable federal government in Putrajaya.
"Missed opportunities, misjudged risks, and mis-prioritised issues are therefore matters of acute importance," it said.
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