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Assertiveness with Reservations: The Politics of Neoliberalism in Malaysia’s FTA Policy
Author(s) -
Syarip Rakhmat
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
asian politics and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.193
H-Index - 12
eISSN - 1943-0787
pISSN - 1943-0779
DOI - 10.1111/aspp.12456
Subject(s) - veto , politics , compromise , alliance , neoliberalism (international relations) , authoritarianism , political economy , political science , enthusiasm , liberalization , embeddedness , economics , sociology , democracy , law , social psychology , social science , psychology
From 2003 to March 2018, Malaysia showed increasing enthusiasm toward forging free trade agreements (FTAs). This article analyzes the factors that determined its attitude, focusing on: (i) why it is currently active; (ii) why it selects specific partners; and (iii) why it combines moderate with comprehensive liberalization. It is found that the interplay between ideas, institutions, and interests are important to explain the causes. First, both state interventionism and neoliberal ideas influence these outcomes. Second, within the competitive authoritarian institutions, neoliberal supporters have benefited from executive‐heavy policymaking processes, while the anti‐FTA groups failed to forge a strong alliance. Third, interaction between two veto points – the neoliberal executive and the resistant faction within the ruling party – created compromise and convergence in FTA policy. Ultimately, Malaysia has an “assertive but reserved” attitude toward reconciling differences between old embeddedness and new international practices.