Malaysian Foreign Policy in the Mahathir Era, 1981-2003 : Dilemmas of Development

Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is often seen as the sole author of the country's foreign policy. "Malaysian Foreign Policy in the Mahathir Era" shows that while Mahathir's personality, leadership style, political ideology and brand of nationalism unquestionably had a deep impact, so too did domestic issues and external forces associated with globalization.

The book discusses seven major foreign policy initiatives of the Mahathir period: Buy British Last, Anti-Commonwealth, Look East, Third World Spokesmanship, Regional Engagement, Islamic Posturing and Commercial and Developmental Diplomacy.

The author explains the foreign policy significance of communal concerns, the regime's need to maintain its own authority in the face of political and social initiatives (some rooted in Islam), and its desire to achieve national development.

He also discusses external pressures, including Japan's regional designs, Singapore's defence posture and the growing importance of China for the region. His approach breaks away from the studies of elitist decision making and single factor models usually employed to explain the foreign policy of developing nations, and establishes a direct link between domestic politics and foreign policy during the period studied.