Middle power behavior under multipolarity: Indonesia and Malaysia in the Middle East since the Arab uprisings

Abstract

How do middle powers operate in uncertain multipolar international systems? Through the cases of Malaysia and Indonesia, the article examines their approach in the Middle East after the Arab uprisings. Particular reference is given to their actions in three main areas: the Gulf (especially relations with Saudi Arabia and Iran), the Syrian war (and its blowback in terms of domestic radicalization), and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. While the two middle powers' behavior demonstrated all three possible modeswhether to support, push back or stand apart-what distinguished them was their timing: under multipolarity these different forms of behavior occurred concurrently, in contrast to a more sequenced approach under (global) unipolarity and bipolarity. The findings point to Malaysian and Indonesian actions as examples of "hedging" whereby states seek good relations with all and minimize the risk of problematic entanglements.

The Concept of Multipolarity: Diversity of Approaches and Interpretations

“…Бельгийский исследователь Гай Бертон исследует стратегии держав среднего уровня в эру многополярности на примере политики Малайзии и Индонезии на Ближнем Востоке. Ученый приходит к выводу, что в сравнении с периодом биполярности и однополярности, когда страны проводили последовательную политику поддержки, противостояния или уклонения от взаимодействия с конкретными региональными игроками, сегодня Малайзия и МИРОВАЯ ПОЛИТИКА И ГЛОБАЛЬНОЕ ЛИДЕРСТВО Индонезия реализуют все три стратегии одновременно, что позволяет им сотрудничать с разными силами региона и избегать конфронтации [Burton 2021].…”

Essential Factors Influencing Malaysia’s Relations with the United Arab Emirates

“…The systemic structure model indicates how a smaller, developing, and middle power state must behave according to the structure of the international political system. A smaller and developing state has no autonomous power and becomes toothless, while middle powers may have some autonomous but limited power choices (Burton, 2021;Cox, 1989;Husseini, 2008) in designing their foreign policies due to the dominant greater power rivalries such as between the USA and the then Soviet Union during the Cold War era or the USA as the sole hegemonic power after the Cold War (Braveboy-Wagner, 2003;Dougherty & Pfaltzgrabb, 1981;Neack, 2003).…”

“…This is because Malaysia has been consistent with its neutral and non-alignment policy since Tun Razak's reign, which indirectly paves the way for a close relationship with Middle Eastern counterparts. Besides, as one of the emerging middle powers in the Muslim world, as argued by numerous studies (Burton, 2021;Foley, 2012;Fulton, 2017;Ulrichsen & Cafiero, 2018;Waikar & Mohamed Osman, 2020), Malaysia has played a strategic role in championing and mediating some regional issues such as Yemen civil war, Mindanao peace process, Southern Thailand crisis, Rohingya humanitarian cause, Palestinian issues, and others. However, the nature of Malaysia's involvement is still limited and bound to the influence of the US-centric umbrella as the dominant hegemonic power after the end of the Cold War (Burton, 2021).…”

“…Malaysia is actively involved in economic and social joint venture projects and embroiled in security and military cooperation to conjointly combat terrorism and extremism (Fulton, 2017;Ulrichsen & Cafeiro, 2018). To some extent, however, some controversial issues jeopardized Malaysia's reputations when not handled wisely, such as the issue of Malaysia's participation in the Saudi-led coalition during the Yemen crisis from 2015 until 2018, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) financial scandal, and others (Burton, 2021;Ulrichsen & Cafeiro, 2018). In other words, the interaction between Malaysia and the Middle Eastern countries, especially the Gulf countries, has been steadfastly growing, and this has set pace Malaysia's relation with UAE, the main focus of this article.…”

“…A few other factors can explain this: the shifting geopolitical interest of the two countries, economic slowdown, the change of government in Malaysia, issues of the 1MDB, and the Covid-19 pandemic are arguably the reasons for the slow pace of trade activities between these two nations. UAE's shifting interest toward Malaysia's neighboring nation, Indonesia, could be arguably one major reason (Burton, 2021).…”