Institutional collapse and shifting balance of ontological security : role of Malaysia’s dual identity in the decay of ASPAC in the 1960s and 1970s
This article examines the causal process of the institutional collapse of the Asia Pacific Council (ASPAC) in 1973 by focusing on Malaysia’s foreign policy behavior, and highlights implications for today’s ASEAN. Specifically, it argues that the institutional collapse of ASPAC was caused by Malaysia...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/152085 |
| _version_ | 1826117431417896960 |
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| author | Koga, Kei Zul Hazmi Nordin |
| author2 | School of Social Sciences |
| author_facet | School of Social Sciences Koga, Kei Zul Hazmi Nordin |
| author_sort | Koga, Kei |
| collection | NTU |
| description | This article examines the causal process of the institutional collapse of the Asia Pacific Council (ASPAC) in 1973 by focusing on Malaysia’s foreign policy behavior, and highlights implications for today’s ASEAN. Specifically, it argues that the institutional collapse of ASPAC was caused by Malaysia’s withdrawal, which stemmed from a shift in its balance of ontological security from security dependence on the UK and the West to greater political autonomy in Southeast Asia. This occurred after a change in the regional distribution of power caused by the UKs withdrawal from East of Suez, and to a lesser extent, US disengagement from Southeast Asia. In the 1960s and 1970s, Malaysia demonstrated the conflicting duality of ontological security, consisting of strategic and aspirational identities. Malaysia’s strategic identity was its association with the West, particularly the UK, which was nurtured through Malaysia’s routinized strategic interaction with them in the security realm. This identity prevented Malaysia from easily or completely abandoning its security ties with them, even when the strategic benefit was significantly marginal. On the other hand, Malaysia’s aspirational identity was to attain greater political autonomy without external interventions, particularly from great powers, which Malaysia experienced during its colonial period. Such sentiments emerged at the end of World War II and the following decolonization process, and were partly illustrated by Malaysia’s pursuit of the non-aligned movement. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T04:27:29Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/152085 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-03-09T11:54:53Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1520852024-11-18T03:09:56Z Institutional collapse and shifting balance of ontological security : role of Malaysia’s dual identity in the decay of ASPAC in the 1960s and 1970s Koga, Kei Zul Hazmi Nordin School of Social Sciences Social sciences::Political science Asia Pacific Network of Science & Technology Centres Ontological Security This article examines the causal process of the institutional collapse of the Asia Pacific Council (ASPAC) in 1973 by focusing on Malaysia’s foreign policy behavior, and highlights implications for today’s ASEAN. Specifically, it argues that the institutional collapse of ASPAC was caused by Malaysia’s withdrawal, which stemmed from a shift in its balance of ontological security from security dependence on the UK and the West to greater political autonomy in Southeast Asia. This occurred after a change in the regional distribution of power caused by the UKs withdrawal from East of Suez, and to a lesser extent, US disengagement from Southeast Asia. In the 1960s and 1970s, Malaysia demonstrated the conflicting duality of ontological security, consisting of strategic and aspirational identities. Malaysia’s strategic identity was its association with the West, particularly the UK, which was nurtured through Malaysia’s routinized strategic interaction with them in the security realm. This identity prevented Malaysia from easily or completely abandoning its security ties with them, even when the strategic benefit was significantly marginal. On the other hand, Malaysia’s aspirational identity was to attain greater political autonomy without external interventions, particularly from great powers, which Malaysia experienced during its colonial period. Such sentiments emerged at the end of World War II and the following decolonization process, and were partly illustrated by Malaysia’s pursuit of the non-aligned movement. 2021-07-14T08:20:07Z 2021-07-14T08:20:07Z 2019 Journal Article Koga, K. & Zul Hazmi Nordin (2019). Institutional collapse and shifting balance of ontological security : role of Malaysia’s dual identity in the decay of ASPAC in the 1960s and 1970s. Pacific Review, 33(5), 842-871. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09512748.2019.1596971 0951-2748 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/152085 10.1080/09512748.2019.1596971 2-s2.0-85064474534 5 33 842 871 en Pacific Review © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. |
| spellingShingle | Social sciences::Political science Asia Pacific Network of Science & Technology Centres Ontological Security Koga, Kei Zul Hazmi Nordin Institutional collapse and shifting balance of ontological security : role of Malaysia’s dual identity in the decay of ASPAC in the 1960s and 1970s |
| title | Institutional collapse and shifting balance of ontological security : role of Malaysia’s dual identity in the decay of ASPAC in the 1960s and 1970s |
| title_full | Institutional collapse and shifting balance of ontological security : role of Malaysia’s dual identity in the decay of ASPAC in the 1960s and 1970s |
| title_fullStr | Institutional collapse and shifting balance of ontological security : role of Malaysia’s dual identity in the decay of ASPAC in the 1960s and 1970s |
| title_full_unstemmed | Institutional collapse and shifting balance of ontological security : role of Malaysia’s dual identity in the decay of ASPAC in the 1960s and 1970s |
| title_short | Institutional collapse and shifting balance of ontological security : role of Malaysia’s dual identity in the decay of ASPAC in the 1960s and 1970s |
| title_sort | institutional collapse and shifting balance of ontological security role of malaysia s dual identity in the decay of aspac in the 1960s and 1970s |
| topic | Social sciences::Political science Asia Pacific Network of Science & Technology Centres Ontological Security |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/152085 |
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