The Promise and Challenge of Defense Industrialization. By Mehmet Enes Beşer The way warfare has never changed in linear fashion, nor has Malaysia’s search for a place in the defense industry testified to the inbuilt complexity. The modern-day battlefield demands urgency, precision, and seamless implantation of technology on land, sea, skies, and in the cyber sphere. For Malaysia, a nation ...
Charting a New Course in a Polarized World By Mehmet Enes Beşer The promise of a “New Malaysia” first captured global attention in 2018, when a surprise electoral upset ended sixty-two unbroken years of Barisan Nasional coalition government. Pakatan Harapan coalition win—and return to politics of veteran politician Mahathir Mohamad—was welcomed as a democratic victory, a harbinger that Malaysia was ...
Beyond Surveillance By Mehmet Enes Beşer The Malaysian CVE experience has attracted regional and global attention both as a pioneering legislation and because of its complex security, political, and religious dynamics. Malaysia has utilized a multidimensional toolkit of hard and soft power responses from the Malayan Emergency insurgency during the 20th century up to the current threat from transnational Islamist ...
How a nation treats its migrants shows how it treats its future. By Mehmet Enes Beşer Few problems were as nakedly exposed as that of how Malaysia managed labor migration, the tension between political vulnerability and economic necessity. Malaysian economic hegemony for decades driven by, foreign migrant workers in the tens of millions–no less a proportion arriving on its shores ...
A Strategic Imperative By Mehmet Enes Beşer The Straits of Malacca and Singapore are among the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints, serving as vital arteries for global trade and energy transportation. Their strategic significance has made them focal points for geopolitical interests, necessitating robust mechanisms to manage potential conflicts and ensure the uninterrupted flow of commerce. Strategic Significance of the ...
The Pragmatic Middle Ground: Navigating Superpower Pressures By Mehmet Enes Beşer Malaysia follows a complex and highly challenging foreign policy as it strives to balance economic relations with China while maintaining strategic cooperation with the United States, particularly concerning sovereignty claims and regional security in the South China Sea. This balancing act is shaped by Malaysia’s geopolitical dynamics and national ...