The Role of Brunei Darussalam's Defence Diplomacy in Wawasan 2035

This research paper delves into the defence diplomacy of Brunei Darussalam, focusing on the Royal Brunei Armed Forces and their contribution to the Wawasan Vision 2035, a comprehensive development plan. It examines the current state of the armed forces, including the army, air force, and navy, considering their strengths, weaknesses, and potential for growth. The paper explores Brunei's involvement in international humanitarian efforts, peacekeeping missions, and regional collaborations, particularly within ASEAN. It analyzes the effectiveness of Brunei's defence policy and diplomacy, identifying areas for improvement to enhance the armed forces' role in achieving the Wawasan 2035 goals, which encompass social, economic, and security aspects. The study highlights the importance of the armed forces in safeguarding Brunei's territorial integrity, promoting regional influence, and contributing to the nation's overall development. The research paper concludes by recommending strategies for strengthening the Royal Brunei Armed Forces to ensure their integral role in fulfilling the Wawasan Vision's objectives by the target year of 2035.

Running head: DEFENCE DIPLOMACY OF BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
DEFENCE DIPLOMACY OF BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1DEFENCE DIPLOMACY OF BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
ABSTRACT
The Wawasan Vision of 2035 is a development plan that the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam
wishes to achieve by the year 2035, consisting of social, cultural, economic, political and
securitarian aspects. For this particular purpose the focus shall be on the ways in which the Royal
Brunei Armed Forces can contribute to the fulfillment of the Wawasan Vision. The results of this
research paper indicates that the enhancement of the Armed Forces is the key to the fulfillment
of the decisive role of the armed forces towards the fulfillment of the Wawasan Vision 2035.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
For the successful completion of this research paper, I would like to thank the professor
concerned who had been in charge of guiding me with the work. I would like to express my
professor for the support and the consideration extended to me and that had been quite beneficial
for me.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Thesis Statement..........................................................................................................................6
Literature Review............................................................................................................................7
Overview of the Wawasan 2035 with special emphasis on the role Royal Brunei Armed Forces
.....................................................................................................................................................7
Effectiveness of the Defence Diplomacy of Brunei Darussalam..............................................11
The role of Brunei Darussalam in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Management Efforts
at Aceh in Indonesia, at Tacloban in the Philippines and Nepal...............................................16
The involvement of Brunei Darussalam in Peacekeeping in Lebanon and in the International
Monitoring Team in Mindanao, the Philippines........................................................................18
The involvement of Brunei Darussalam in ASEAN Defence Ministerial Meeting..................20
Discussion......................................................................................................................................21
Effectiveness of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces and the Defence Policy of the Nation.............22
Lacunae in the Royal Brunei Armed Forces and the Defence Policy of the Nation.....................24
Possible Contributions of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces to the Wawasan Vision 2035.......25
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................27
References......................................................................................................................................29

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Introduction
Brunei Darussalam is an Absolute Monarchy, ruled by Malay Islamic situated in the
South East Asia. The current political power that is ruling over the nation is the Bolkiah Dynasty
which has been ruling ever since the 1400 AD. It was the Bolkiah Dynasty that the Islamic rule
had replaced the former Buddhist rulers of the region. Brunei Darussalam is a small Sultanate if
adjudged from the point of view of territory, but it is considered as one of the richest nations of
the world and comes only second to Singapore in terms of wealth, and also considered as one of
the developed nations of the world (Croissant and Lorenz 2018).
The wealth of the nation is owing to its huge oil reserves discovered in the year 1929,
which makes her capable of maintaining a strong army in the region. Apart from the wealth
making Brunei Darussalam capable of maintaining a very strong army, it is also a necessity as
the geography of the region is highly fragmented, consisting of two parts, the western and the
eastern parts. The western part is the most populous part consisting of the districts of Belait,
Tutong and Brunei Muara, while the eastern part which is highly mountainous consists of the
Temburong district (Sidhu 2017).
Brunei has involved herself in several humanitarian interventions in various nations
namely, at Aceh in Indonesia, Tacloban, the Philippines and Nepal in South Asia, and in
Lebanon in West Asia. Brunei Darussalam is also engaged actively in the regional cooperation
organizations of South East Asia, the ASEAN and several others and is hopeful of increasing her
influence in the region as well further more for which it is necessary that the nation builds up a

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strong military force. That desire Brunei seeks to fulfill by means of the Wawasan vision of 2035
(Macmillan 2016).
Thus it can be said that there are ample amount of prospects for improvement of the
armed forces of the Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam. The structure of the research paper has been
devised in a way that it shall be discussing the Wawasan Plan which the Sultan of Brunei
Darussalam, His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah who is
visionary has devised, with particular reference to the armed forces and how its enhancement can
be achieved in order to fulfill the goals cherished in the Wawasan Vision by the deadline of
2035. It is a development plan named the Wawasan Brunei which consists of several goals which
is supposed to be achieved by 2035 and they are concerned with the preservation of the social,
cultural, spiritual and historic values of the nation with a futuristic vision. The goal is to enhance
the bargaining power of Brunei Darussalam in the international sphere in political terms
("GOV.BN Portal - Wawasan Brunei 2035" 2019). To the end, the situational analysis of the
armed forces is an important component, which is the focus of the discussion in this research
paper. The aim is to provide a detailed account of the ways in which the enhancement of the
armed forces could lead to the realization and fulfillment of the goal cherished by the Wawasan
Vision 2035.
The general issues that shall be dealt with in this particular research essay are the
situational analysis of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, the effectiveness of the Defence Policy of
Brunei Darussalam. The specific issue that shall be dealt with in this particular essay is the
establishment of the linkage between the contribution of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces and the
fulfillment of the Wawasan Vision 2035. This particular research essay wants to find out what
can be done in order to ensure that the Royal Brunei Armed Forces play an integral part in the

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Wawasan 2035. The three most essential keywords of this particular research essay are-
Wawasan Vision 2035, the Royal Brunei Armed Forces and the Defence Policy of Brunei
Darussalam. The importance of this particular research essay lies in the fact that it seeks to find
out the ways in which the contribution of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces shall be contributing to
the fulfillment of the Wawasan Vision 2035. The Wawasan Vision is an all encompassing
development plan into which the Royal Brunei Armed Forces can contribute and in that process
can supplement its own growth and development.
Thesis Statement
The thesis statement of this particular research paper is to provide an account of the
needful to be done in order to ensure that the Royal Brunei Armed Forces plays an integral part
in the Wawasan Vision of 2035.
In order to build up the justified responses to the thesis statement, several supporting
research questions shall be answered in the following sections which are as follows :-
- The question of the effectiveness of the Defence Diplomacy of Brunei Darussalam.
- The role of Brunei Darussalam in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Management
Efforts internationally.
- The involvement of Brunei Darussalam in ASEAN Defence Ministerial Meeting.
Thus the research aim shall be to recommend ways in which the Royal Brunei Armed Forces
can contribute to the successful fulfillment of the Wawasan Vision within the envisaged deadline
of 2035.

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Literature Review
Overview of the Wawasan 2035 with special emphasis on the role Royal Brunei Armed
Forces
The Wawasan 2035 has 13 specific goals which has been intended to be fulfilled, as per
the realization of the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and thus Yang Di Pertuan Negara Brunei
Darussalam had consented to the formation of a managing body, Council for Long-Term
Development Planning in the year 2004. By 2035, the goal of enhancement and betterment of 13
key indicators have been realized, which are as follows:-
- Education
- Economy
- Security
- Institutional Development
- Local Business Development
- Infrastructure Development
- Social Security
- Environment
- Health
- Religion
- Land Use
- Infrastructure and Information Communication Technology
- Manpower Planning

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Out of these 13 goals, there are specifically few goals which are directly linked to the armed
forces whose role in the fulfillment of the Wawasan Brunei 2035 shall be discussed in this
particular research paper. The Wawasan is a development plan which is being sought to be
fulfilled by the given deadline of 2035 and for the realization of securitarian, institutional
development, infrastructure development, information communication technology and man
power planning goals, out of the 13 goals outlined in the vision, it is necessary that a situational
analysis of the armed forces of the nation is undertaken, the strengths and the weaknesses
realized and thereby a comprehensive plan for enhancing the armed forces be undertaken
("GOV.BN Portal - Wawasan Brunei 2035" 2019).
The armed forces of Brunei Darussalam was founded in the year in 1961 and the current
form of armed forces was reconstructed in the year 1984, which consist of Land Forces, Air
Force and the Navy, all of which are under the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, Sultan Hassanal
Bolkiah. The armed forces are supposed to play an important role in the Wawasa vision of 2035.
Each year on an average 3,460 males and 3,399 females reaches the age of joining the military in
Brunei Darussalam, and currently at around 10,000 active personnel are there. Given the fact that
Brunei Darussalam seeks to increase her sphere of influence in the regional politics, it is
extremely necessary that she increases her military power which is mainly based on land forces
which are divided into three units of battalion and a support battalion. The main aim of the land
forces is to safeguard the territorial and political integrity of Brunei Darussalam from foreign
encroachments as well from internal sources ("MINDEF - Commander Royal Brunei Land
Force" 2019).
The land army is mainly aimed at maintaining peace throughout the nation and also
protect the sovereignty of the Sultan of Brunei. The air force and the naval forces of Brunei

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Darussalam is limited but well equipped, which are being sought to expand. The air force mainly
consists of helicopters, Bell 212 and Sikorsky S-70 which have been replaced by Sikorsky S-70i
in the year 2015. The only kind of fixed wing fighter aircraft that Brunei Darussalam has is the
C-130J which was purchased in the year 2014 along with the necessary spare parts and the
logistical support. The air force mainly looks after the safety of the air space of the nation and
also helps in the transportation of the army personnel ("Home - Royal Brunei Airforce" 2019).
The royal navy of Brunei Darussalam is even smaller in size and is mainly aimed at
safeguarding the water space of the nation against ant form of encroachment by foreign
elements. The growth of the Royal Brunei navy had begun only in the year 1991 after her
independence from the United Kingdom ("MINDEF - Commander Royal Brunei Navy" 2019).
Despite the inadequacies in that are present in the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, which are
mainly oriented to the small size of the three factions, especially the air force and the naval
forces, it has played quite an active part in the rescue missions in international locations, in South
East Asia as well as in the Middle East. Though the air force and the naval forces are small in
number, but they are equipped with one of the most sophisticated battling equipment and the
Sultan has envisaged a plan to replace the old ones with the newer ones which are up to date with
the state of the art technologies. Apart from that, Brunei Darussalam is a rich nation which has
highly educated people whose skills can be pooled in to the social and infrastructural
development of the nation. The lifestyle in Brunei Darussalam is also quite high as per the
international standards with a per capita income that features in the top 10 list in the world.
The economy of the nation is also quite stable and sustainable. Thus on an overall basis it
can be said that the conditions in Brunei Darussalam are quite propitious for the pursuance of an

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ambitious project of enhancing and invigorating the armed forces. For the purpose of having an
influential position in the international political affairs it is necessary that the particular nation is
both militarily as well as economically powerful. Brunei Darussalam is economically quite
strong but militarily she is rather weak which she can definitely make up for by means of
implementing certain structural changes in the administration of the resources of the nation and
that shall enable her to reach the heights of success.
The issue of military diplomacy and the revamping of the armed forces is something
which finds both explicit and implicit mention in the Wawasan 2035. In the document released
by the Embassy of Brunei Darussalam to the United States of America out of the eight strategies
to achieve the three key goals of Wawasan 2035; achievement of highly skilled and educated
population as per the international standards, to get enlisted among the top 19 nations of the
world and achievement of one of the nations having the highest GDP with a sustainable
economy, the achievement of an efficient armed force is one of them.
The document published has clearly mentioned under the heading of the eight strategies,
‘A security strategy that will safeguard Brunei’s political stability and sovereignty as a nation
which links the defence and diplomatic capabilities and its capacity to respond to threats from
disease and natural catastrophe ("Brunei Embassy Washington, Dc" 2019).’ This particular
quotation from the document makes it clear that Brunei Darussalam is devoting efforts to revamp
its securitarian concerns which can only be possible only by means of increasing the capacities
of the armed forces. The Sultanate desires to channelize the armed forces for the purpose of
serving humankind and not for the purpose of waging warfare. This is a positive indication about
the intentions of the nations which is not aggressive and rather harmonious (Macmillan 2016).

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Effectiveness of the Defence Diplomacy of Brunei Darussalam
The Directorate of Defence Policy had been formed in the year 1985, back when it was
fragmented into four parts each of which dealt with legal affairs, maintaining public relations,
indulging in researches and also managing the administrative affairs. In the year 2004, structural
changes were brought about in the ministry when it was centralized with the view that the
ministry could focus more on its role as the department dealing exclusively with the matters
pertaining to the defence of the nation ("MINDEF" 2019).
The philosophy of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces can be explained through its vision
which seeks to achieve excellence in Defence Policy and Strategy and thorough its mission
which seeks to extend support to the decision makers through the policy framework named RAPI
(reliable, accurate, proactive and intelligent). The main aim of the Directorate of Defence Policy
of Darussalam is oriented towards the promotion and enhancement of the defence diplomacy at
two levels, at the international level with the United Nations Organizations and at the regional
level with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the ASEAN Regional
Forum. The Defence Policy of Brunei Darussalam also aims at building friendly bilateral ties
with the friendly nations which consists of the ASEAN nations and the Arab Islamic world most
importantly. Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia are the most important allies of
Brunei Darussalam ("MINDEF" 2019).
By virtue of the fact that Brunei Darussalam had been a protectorate of the United
Kingdom, and ever since her independence from the United Kingdom the year 1984, she had
been a part of the British Commonwealth. Both the nations share diplomatic ties and jointly
cooperate in the matters of defence (Haacke and Breen 2018)