10 years on, US-Malaysia relations need to adjust to a changed world

The larger context of the Obama administration’s pivot to Asia furnished the strategic opportunity for both states to build on their relationship, but it was the personal appeal of the most Southeast Asian of US presidents that defined the sensibility of the partnership.

Institutionalising a bilateral relationship against capriciousness is one thing. Insulating it against domestic and external exigencies which divert political attention and policy resources is quite another. No one at the time predicted the occurrence of a global pandemic just a few years later.

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Against the backdrop of hundreds of thousands dead from Covid-19, the US saw a change in government and an attempted insurrection in the nation’s capital. For three years, Washington has rallied in support of Ukraine against Russia and, since October 2023, it has backed Israel, which is accused in the International Court of Justice of committing genocide in Gaza, all while aggressively competing against China.

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This disaggregation of the bilateral relationship between principle and pragmatism could prove more difficult to defend, however. This is especially so with competing domestic pressures in Malaysia on the one hand and continued invalidation of international legal institutions by the US on the other.

Perhaps a sign of a maturing US-Malaysia partnership on its 10th anniversary would be an honest review of its possibilities based on its constraints. The two countries have remained indispensable, long-term friends, but the world is a much-changed place. It’s time for the relationship to be re-examined against this