A foreign policy analyst who declined to be named said there was no doubt that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who last March led one of several delegations to the Middle East, had managed to improve ties with countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“Our ties with the Saudis and Emiratis were somewhat strained during the Pakatan Harapan era,” he said, and referred to issues concerning 1MDB, the cancellation of the King Salman Centre for International Peace project and the withdrawal of Malaysian troops from Saudi Arabia as an indication of unwillingness to support the Saudi war in Yemen.
In the 1MDB issue, the PH administration decided to sue International Petroleum Investment Co, an Abu Dhabi state-owned enterprise, for the return of 1MDB funds in place of a settlement agreement.
The analyst said there were obvious trade benefits in improving bilateral ties with Middle East countries, especially members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, but he added that there were “strategic questions” that Malaysia needed to think about.
These include questions on Malaysia’s positioning as a “partner of choice” for countries in the Middle East.
He asked whether it was a sustainable long-term bet for Malaysia and whether policymakers were doing what they could to prevent a repeat of the circumstances that led to Malaysia’s involvement in the Yemen conflict.
“What do these improved ties mean for Malaysia? Are we going to get more involved in matters affecting these countries? What are our aims and benefits from this foreign policy shift?
“Is this swing towards the Middle East just the latest flavour of the month or is this part of a longer-term strategic plan?” asked the analyst.
Since the Middle East is a complex region plagued by longstanding conflicts, he said, alliances and strategic interests are fluid and often contradictory.
“There is a lot of jockeying by regional and extra-regional powers for positions of influence, which in some cases have led to proxy wars between them.”
He acknowledged that Malaysia should look for ways to improve and deepen bilateral relationships, but said it needed to be careful to not get involved in conflicts in the region.
He noted that Middle East rivalries would often spill over into the wider Muslim world.
“Malaysia found that out the hard way when it pressed ahead with the Kuala Lumpur Summit in late 2019, which was not well received by most Middle Eastern countries and those aligned to them in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.”
Azmi Hassan, a geostrategy expert, said it was true that Middle Eastern geopolitics were murky and difficult to navigate, but added that Malaysia was doing the right thing in trying to repair damaged relations.
Under the PH administration, he noted, Malaysia appeared to be more aligned to Iran, which did not see eye-to-eye with Saudi Arabia and most Arab states.
Azmi said it did not make sense for a small Muslim country like Malaysia to be in less than good terms with Middle East countries and maintain neutrality.
“It is in our interest to be friendly with all Middle Eastern countries so that we’ll have a voice in the Muslim world and boost trade, which will benefit our economy,” he said.