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Self-Determination Conflict Watch is an electronic journal sponsored by Foreign Policy In Focus (FPIF), a joint project of the Interhemispheric Resource Center and the Institute for Policy Studies. FPIF, a "think tank without walls," is dedicated to "making the U.S. a more responsible global leader and partner." The project has received a grant from the Carnegie Corporation to advance new approaches to self-determination conflicts through web-based research and analysis. Conflict Watch presents the latest analysis about self-determination from our international network of experts. For more information, please visit our Self-Determination In Focus website at http://www.selfdetermine.org/index.html. We encourage readers to respond to opinions expressed in Conflict Watch as well as to send in unsolicited commentaries (send to ) about self-determination issues.
Tom Barry, editor of Self-Determination Conflict Watch, is a senior analyst with the Interhemispheric Resource Center (IRC) (online at www.irc-online.org) and codirector of Foreign Policy In Focus. The IRC is responsible for producing and publishing the Self-Determination Conflict Watch ezine.
MUSLIM MILITANCY AND MILITARIZATION IN MALAYSIA
By John Gershman
(Editor's Note: Excerpted from a new FPIF Global Affairs Commentary available in its entirety at: http://www.fpif.org/commentary/2002/0205malaysia.html .)
A little less than five years ago, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was the bad boy of Southeast Asia. He had denounced George Soros, hedge funds, and foreign investors as the cause of the Asian crisis; rejected IMF policy prescriptions; and imposed capital controls as a means of controlling foreign capital outflows and stabilizing the economy. His response to the Asian crisis was denounced by the Clinton administration's Treasury Department and the IMF at the time, but has since been acknowledged to have been effective and left Malaysia better off than its neighbors--which followed IMF prescriptions more closely. The Clinton administration had also occasionally criticized Mahathir's use of the government's Internal Security Act (ISA) to imprison political opponents.
Then came September 11th. Mahathir's administration has arrested roughly forty people since September 11th on the basis of their alleged membership in the Malaysian Militant/Mujahadin Movement (KMM), an organization claimed to be part of the al Qaeda network. These arrests were made under the Internal Security Act, which allows for arrest and indefinite detention without charge. The post-September 11th crackdown, however, was an extension of crackdown against Islamist and secular opposition figures that began in mid-2001, and has led to roughly 100 people held under the ISA (for any reason) since then. A number of these prisoners have been identified as prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International, which has petitioned for their release. Mahathir has come under heavy criticism from the government-appointed National Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) as well as a broad-based coalition of Malaysian civil society organizations and NGOs under the banner of the Abolish the ISA movement.
Malaysia has developed an increasingly important profile for U.S. policy in the region for several reasons. In addition to the enthusiasm with which Mahathir has jailed alleged terrorists, he will also play a key role in the Bush administration's efforts to woo "moderate" Muslims as part of the war on terrorism. Mahathir will chair the Non-Aligned Movement and the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) beginning in 2003. And next year's OIC summit will be hosted by Malaysia for the first time. These factors all insure that human rights issues are unlikely to be a centerpiece of the Bush-Mahathir discussions.
There are broader regional security issues as well that weave together Bush administration security concerns, efforts to promote U.S. weapons exports, and Malaysia's military modernization program. The ten member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are expected to spend billion on weapons this year, with Malaysia spending the largest single amount. Prior to the Asian crisis, Southeast Asia was the world's second-largest arms market after the Middle East. Southeast Asian arms purchases represented about 20% of the world market in the mid-1990s, a substantial increase over the region's 12% market share in 1985. Malaysia plans to spend -4 billion on weapons from 2002-2005 as part of a major military modernization program.
These dual developments--the repression of dissidents in the guise of combating terrorism and an expansion of offensive military capabilities on the part of Malaysia--portend for greater instability in Malaysia and the region. The Bush administration would do well do cement the more productive and less contentious relationship that has emerged between the two countries since September 11th. But it should not provide unqualified support to its new-found friend by reinforcing authoritarian policies in Malaysia or underwriting an arms race in the region.
(John Gershman is a senior analyst with the Interhemispheric Resource Center and the Asia/Pacific editor for Foreign Policy in Focus (online at www.fpif.org).
Tom Barry, editor of Self-Determination Conflict Watch, is a senior analyst with the Interhemispheric Resource Center (IRC) (online at www.irc-online.org) and codirector of Foreign Policy In Focus. The IRC is responsible for producing and publishing the Self-Determination Conflict Watch ezine.
MUSLIM MILITANCY AND MILITARIZATION IN MALAYSIA
By John Gershman
(Editor's Note: Excerpted from a new FPIF Global Affairs Commentary available in its entirety at: http://www.fpif.org/commentary/2002/0205malaysia.html .)
A little less than five years ago, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was the bad boy of Southeast Asia. He had denounced George Soros, hedge funds, and foreign investors as the cause of the Asian crisis; rejected IMF policy prescriptions; and imposed capital controls as a means of controlling foreign capital outflows and stabilizing the economy. His response to the Asian crisis was denounced by the Clinton administration's Treasury Department and the IMF at the time, but has since been acknowledged to have been effective and left Malaysia better off than its neighbors--which followed IMF prescriptions more closely. The Clinton administration had also occasionally criticized Mahathir's use of the government's Internal Security Act (ISA) to imprison political opponents.
Then came September 11th. Mahathir's administration has arrested roughly forty people since September 11th on the basis of their alleged membership in the Malaysian Militant/Mujahadin Movement (KMM), an organization claimed to be part of the al Qaeda network. These arrests were made under the Internal Security Act, which allows for arrest and indefinite detention without charge. The post-September 11th crackdown, however, was an extension of crackdown against Islamist and secular opposition figures that began in mid-2001, and has led to roughly 100 people held under the ISA (for any reason) since then. A number of these prisoners have been identified as prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International, which has petitioned for their release. Mahathir has come under heavy criticism from the government-appointed National Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) as well as a broad-based coalition of Malaysian civil society organizations and NGOs under the banner of the Abolish the ISA movement.
Malaysia has developed an increasingly important profile for U.S. policy in the region for several reasons. In addition to the enthusiasm with which Mahathir has jailed alleged terrorists, he will also play a key role in the Bush administration's efforts to woo "moderate" Muslims as part of the war on terrorism. Mahathir will chair the Non-Aligned Movement and the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) beginning in 2003. And next year's OIC summit will be hosted by Malaysia for the first time. These factors all insure that human rights issues are unlikely to be a centerpiece of the Bush-Mahathir discussions.
There are broader regional security issues as well that weave together Bush administration security concerns, efforts to promote U.S. weapons exports, and Malaysia's military modernization program. The ten member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are expected to spend billion on weapons this year, with Malaysia spending the largest single amount. Prior to the Asian crisis, Southeast Asia was the world's second-largest arms market after the Middle East. Southeast Asian arms purchases represented about 20% of the world market in the mid-1990s, a substantial increase over the region's 12% market share in 1985. Malaysia plans to spend -4 billion on weapons from 2002-2005 as part of a major military modernization program.
These dual developments--the repression of dissidents in the guise of combating terrorism and an expansion of offensive military capabilities on the part of Malaysia--portend for greater instability in Malaysia and the region. The Bush administration would do well do cement the more productive and less contentious relationship that has emerged between the two countries since September 11th. But it should not provide unqualified support to its new-found friend by reinforcing authoritarian policies in Malaysia or underwriting an arms race in the region.
(John Gershman
