1st Edition

Islam in Malaysian Foreign Policy

By Shanti Nair Copyright 1997

    A case study of a multi-ethnic Muslim state and a contribution to the study of the domestic functions of foreign policy. The book also addresses the real and imagined significance of Islam as a force in contemporary global politics.

    Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Introduction; Locating Islam in international relations; The relationship between foreign policy and domestic policy: foreign policy as domestic policy by other means; Notes; 1 Islam in Malay politics; Islam in Malay political culture; Islam in Malay political development; Notes; 2 The internationalization of Malay-Muslim society; Islam in Malaysian foreign policy 1957–1978: government and Party attitudes; The expansion of the Malay universe; The internationalization of dakwah; The impact of the Iranian revolution; The Muslim world in the fifteenth century; The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; The ascension of the Mahathir Administration: a new strategy in foreign policy; Leadership perceptions of foreign policy; Notes; 3 Mahathir, moderation and modernization: “right” Islam; Building an identity; Political Islam at the multilateral level; Political Islam at the bilateral level; Islam, Malay development and the Mahathir philosophy; The economic value of Islam in foreign relations; ‘Ijtihad and the “problem” of authority; The limits of “right” identity; Notes; 4 Extremism: “wrong” Islam; Malaysia and Islamic radicalism; Iran, intra-Malay rivalry and the constitutional crisis; Extremism” in international relations; “Extremism” and dakwah; “Extremism” and Malaysian students; UMNO and unofficial foreign policy; Notes; 5 Building the umma: Malaysia and Muslim minorities; Malaysia and Thailand; Malaysia and the Philippines; Malaysia, Singapore and other regional Muslims; Aiding Southeast Asian Muslims; Aiding extra-regional Muslim minorities; Notes; 6 Co-religionism: Palestine and Afghanistan; The Palestinian struggle; The Afghan struggle; Nationalism or Islam?; Non-Muslim support: the Malaysian identity; Anti-Zionism; The Herzog incident; The political aftermath; Notes; 7 Post-Cold War religious identity; The Gulf War; Malaysia and the Palestinian issue in the 1990s; The issue of Bosnia; Islamic identity in a post-ideological age; Notes; C

    Biography

    Shanti Nair