Replicating of Domestic Security Policy in Malaysian Foreign Policy

Mohammad Agus Yusoff,Fakhreddin Soltani

doi:10.5539/ass.v9n2p115

Abstract

Ethnic and religious conflicts have been one of the critical challenges in multi-ethnic and multi-religious countries. Since 1969, Malaysia, which contains a variety of ethnic and religious groups, has unequivocally been successful in terms of managing ethnic and religious differences in the country. The fundamental basis of Malaysia’s ethnic and religious policy has been tolerance, a trait which has no doubt been helpful in dealing with ethnic and religious differences and providing domestic security. According to some scholars, states’ domestic and foreign policies follow the same patterns of behaviour, which essentially means that states replicate their domestic policies in foreign policies; this article is to explain whether Malaysian foreign policy is shaped on the basis of internal tolerance and is in turn cooperative towards other countries. In regard to this aim, the article starts out by explaining the Malaysian government’s domestic policies towards ethnic and religious groups and subsequently explains the government’s foreign policy towards other countries in order to understand if there is replication in the domestic and foreign policy of Malaysia.

Highlights

States’ domestic and foreign policies follow the same patterns of behaviour, which essentially means that states replicate their domestic policies in foreign policies; this article is to explain whether Malaysian foreign policy is shaped on the basis of internal tolerance and is in turn cooperative towards other countries
One of the critical problems of multi-ethnic countries is the question of how to deal with different ethnic groups and minorities and how this behavior affects their security in the international sphere
States replicate their domestic behavior in the international arena, where they face the reactions of other countries

Summary

Introduction

One of the critical problems of multi-ethnic countries is the question of how to deal with different ethnic groups and minorities and how this behavior affects their security in the international sphere. One of the most influential works on this matter is an article by Doyle (1986) that argues that the governments that respect the liberty of their citizens and individuals within their territory, follow peaceful intentions in their foreign policy as well He concludes that democracies are not inclined to wage war against other democracies. By referring to statistical evidence, they explain that there are significant connections between domestic patterns of behaviour and state behaviour at the international level On this basis, Ekhtiari et al (2011), by studying ethnic conflicts and their effects on international behaviour of countries in the case of Iran over the period of 1997 to 2005, argue that as the level of inequalities among ethnic groups decreased, the level of violent behaviour in foreign policy decreased towards Persian Gulf states, the European Union and the United States. Concerning multi-cultural and multi-ethnic characteristics, this paper is to study Malaysia according to the mentioned idea and explain whether there is a connection between Malaysia’s domestic security policy and its external behaviour

Domestic Diversity and Policies

Foreign Policy

Findings

Conclusion