Malaysian Foreign Policy on Trumps's Administration Assignment
Added on 2021-05-31
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Running head: MALAYSIAN FOREIGN POLICY ON TRUMPS'S ADMINISTRATIONMALAYSIAN FOREIGN POLICY ON TRUMPS'S ADMINISTRATIONName of the StudentName of the UniversityAuthor note
1MALAYSIAN FOREIGN POLICY ON TRUMPS'S ADMINISTRATIONThe Malaysia-United States relations date back to as early as the 19th century whenmerchants from the U.S. traded at various ports of Malaysia. Nonetheless, after the attainment ofindependence by Malaysia in 1957, the relationship grew beyond just being a small-scalecommerce. At present, the U.S. and Malaysia share bilateral ties1. The United States recognizedthe Malaya Federation in 1957 after the country achieved independence from the British Empire.John foster Dulles, the then Secretary of State recognized the Malaysian Independence bysending an official letter to the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman. Prior toMalaysia’s independence, the U.S. had already established a consular post in that country in theyear 1948 at Kuala Lampur. Later, in the year 1964, the U.S. established another post atKuching. The U.S. ambassadors, who were responsible to the Federation of Malaya until 1963,were later accredited to the federation of Malaysia when Singapore, Borneo and Sarawak joinedMalaya in 1963. The U.S. has been a significant player in helping Malaysia become aneconomically stable nation by supporting the planting of oil palm in the 1960s and contributingin the electronics industry in the 1970s. The later years characterized by the Vietnam War(1970s), the conflict in Mogadishu, Somalia (1990s), the financial crisis and the September 11incident (2000s) until the later decades of 2000s saw the Malaysia-U.S ties weaken as well asstrengthen over time. The two nations of Malaysia and United States hold strong bilateral ties encouragingcooperation. A strong associate of the U.S. in many areas of security and economic initiatives,Malaysia has restrained itself from establishing a high profile relationship because of its Muslimidentity. Nevertheless, the visit of former U.S. President, Barack Obama in 2014 demonstrated1 Usembassy.gov, 'History Of The U.S. And Malaysia | U.S. Embassy In Malaysia' (U.S. Embassy in Malaysia,2018) <https://my.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/policy-history/io/> accessed 16 May 2018.
2MALAYSIAN FOREIGN POLICY ON TRUMPS'S ADMINISTRATIONthe effort from both the countries to cooperate with each other on wide ranging issues2. In orderto understand the reasons behind keeping the relationship between the two countries, it isimportant to understand the history more elaborately. This would provide a clear view of themotive behind the U.S. to deal with Malaysia and Malaysia’s needs to tie up with the U.S. duringthe Vietnam War that spanned across the 50s and the 70s era, the U.S. needed Malaysianassistance in helping its soldiers rest and prepare further for the war. Malaysia provided fullsupport even though the U.S. had the British as its ally. The visit of Lyndon Johnson, formerU.S. President to Malaysia in 1966 was seen as a strategic effort from the U.S. to involve theMalayans into the Vietnam War in order to achieve success. Further, during the recent years, theU.S. has been trying to suppress the rising power of China and for this, it shifted its focusprimarily to the Southeast Asian countries especially Malaysia. The Trans-Pacific PartnershipAgreement (TPPA) was seen as an opportunity to fulfill this objective3.Further advancement in the Malaysia-U.S ties was made possible with the TPPagreement between eleven countries bordering the Pacific Ocean and the U.S. Malaysia was alsoamongst the eleven countries who had signed a free-trade agreement with the U.S. the agreementwas proposed in 2015 and implemented in February 20164. The Obama government waswelcoming of the agreement as it meant that they now had the opportunity to trade withoutrestrictions in these countries that were rich in natural resources. However, with the election ofDonald Trump as the new U.S. President in 2016, TPP went into uncertainty with Trump pullingAmerica off the agreement. The decision had a significant impact on Malaysia as the country2 Rinehart, Ian E. "Malaysia: Background and US Relations." Current Politics and Economics of South,Southeastern, and Central Asia 23.2 (2014): 153.3 Ustr.gov, 'TPP Full Text' (Ustr.gov, 2018) <https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/trans-pacific-partnership/tpp-full-text> accessed 16 May 2018.4 Bbc.com, 'What Is The Trans-Pacific Partnership?' (BBC News, 2018) <http://www.bbc.com/news/business-32498715> accessed 16 May 2018.
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