Malaysia confronts the realities of MAGA diplomacy and Trump’s brash ambassadorial pick

President Donald Trump s pick to be the United States next ambassador to Malaysia has raised more than a limited eyebrows in the Southeast Asian nation Right-wing influencer Nick Adams a naturalized American born and raised in Australia is by his own account a weightlifting Bible-reading wildly fruitful and extremely charismatic fan of Hooters and rare steaks with the physique of a Greek God and an IQ over Such brashness seems at odds with the usually more quiet business of diplomacy The same could be commented about Adams lack of relevant experience temperament and expressed opinions which clash starkly with prevailing sentiment in majority-Muslim socially conservative Malaysia Whereas the U S usually sends a career State Department official as ambassador to Malaysia Adams is most of definitely a political nominee His prior population facility as councilor then deputy mayor of a Sydney suburb ended abruptly in amid displays of undiplomatic temper Yet far more problematic for his new posting is his past perceived disparaging of Islam and ardent pro-Israel views lightning rod issues in a country that lacks diplomatic relations with Israel and whose population trends strongly pro-Palestinian So it was little surprise when news of Adam s nomination on July prompted angry pushback among the Malaysian masses and politicians Whether or not Malaysia would officially reject his appointment assuming Adams is endorsed remains uncertain notwithstanding strong domestic pressure on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to do so But regardless the nomination marks a turning point in U S -Malaysian diplomatic relations something I have been tracking for over years In my view it communicates an overt U S disregard for diplomatic norms such as the signaling of respect and consideration for a partner state It also reflects the decline in a relationship that for decades had been overwhelmingly stable and amicable And all this may play into the hands of China Washington s main rival for influence in Southeast Asia Trump wedge in US Malaysia relations The U S and Malaysia have largely enjoyed warm relations over the years notwithstanding occasional rhetorical grandstanding especially on the part of former longtime Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad Having successfully battled a communist insurgency during the mid- th century Malaysia remained reliably anti-communist throughout the Cold War much to Washington s liking Malaysia also occupies a strategically essential position along the Strait of Malacca and has been an critical source of both raw materials such as rubber and for the manufacturing of everything from latex gloves to semiconductors In return Malaysia has benefited both from the U S guard umbrella and robust deal and financing But even before Trump s announcement of his ambassadorship pick bilateral relations were tense The bulk immediate cause was tariffs In April the U S broadcasted a tariff rate for Malaysia of Despite efforts to negotiate the Trump administration indicated the rate would increase further to should no deal materialize by Aug That the White House issued its revised tariff rate just two days before announcing Adams nomination and just over a month after Ibrahim held apparently cordial discussions with U S Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore only added to Malaysia s grievance Malaysia may reap certain benefit from the new U S bargain framework should Trump s broader agenda results in supply chains bypassing China in favor of Southeast Asia and investors seek new outlets amid Trump s targeted feuds But Malaysia s roughly US billion transaction surplus with the U S its preference for low-profile functionality in regard to its relationship with the U S and the general volatility of economic conditions leave Malaysia still vulnerable Moreover contract approach sticking points for the U S include areas where Malaysia is loath to bend such as in its convoluted regulations for halal certification and preferential policies favoring the Malay majority that have long hindered deal negotiations between the two countries Related Latest masculinity influencer Another dudebro guiding followers into deeper loneliness End of the participant pipeline The punishing tariffs the White House has threatened leave Malaysia in a bind The U S is Malaysia s biggest investor and lags only China and Singapore in volume of contract As such the ruling body in Kuala Lumpur may have little choice but to sacrifice domestic approval to economic expediency Nor is contract the only source of angst The White House s pressure on American institutions of higher schooling is effecting collateral damage on a host of its ostensible allies Malaysia included Although numbers have declined since the Asian financial dilemma of the late s the U S has remained a popular destination for Malaysians seeking learning abroad In the s over Malaysians enrolled in U S colleges and universities annually Prior to the COVID- pandemic numbers stabilized at around But after enrollments struggled to recover reaching only in Now they are falling anew In the first Trump administration the visa approval rate for Malaysian students remained high despite Trump s Muslim ban exacerbating impressions of an unwelcoming milieu or tough process Now economic uncertainty from pact wars and a struggling Malaysian currency coupled with proliferating alternatives make the comparatively high expense of studying in the U S even more of a deterrent Yet what propelled Anwar s administration to announce that it will no longer send government-funded scholarship students to the U S a key conduit for top students to pursue degrees overseas was specifically the risks inherent in Trump s policies including threats to bar foreign students at certain universities and stepped-up social media screening of visa applicants Looking beyond a US-led order Clearly Malaysia s cabinet believes that deteriorating relations with the U S are not in its best interests Yet as the junior partner in the relationship Malaysia has limited ability to improve them In that Kuala Lumpur has unveiled itself in a similar boat to other countries in the region who are likewise reconsidering their strategic relationship with the United States amid Trump s dramatic reconfiguration of American foreign framework priorities When sparring with China for influence in Southeast Asia the U S has until not long ago propounded norms of a Western-centric liberal international order in the region promoting such values as openness to business and resources secure sovereignty and respect for international law Malaysia has accepted and benefited from that framework even as it has pushed back against U S positions on the Middle East and in the past on issues related to human rights and civil liberties But amid the Trump administration s unpredictability in upholding this status quo a small middle-income state like Malaysia may have little option beyond pursuing a more determinedly nonaligned neutrality and strategic pragmatism Indeed as the U S sheds its focus on such priorities as democracy and human rights China s proffered region with a shared future emphasizing common interests and a harmonious neighborhood cannot help but seem more appealing This is true even while Malaysia recognizes the limitations to China s approach too and resists being pushed to pick sides Malaysia is after all loath to be part of a sphere of influence dominated by China especially amid ongoing antagonism over China s insists in the South China Sea something that drives Malaysia and fellow counterclaimants in Southeast Asia toward precaution cooperation with the U S That noted Anwar s administration seemed already to be drifting toward China and away from the West even before the latest unfriendly developments emanating from Washington This includes announcing in June its plan to join the BRICS economic bloc of low- and middle-income nations Burning bridges Now the more bridges the U S burns the less of a path it leaves back to the heady aspirations of the first Trump administration s Free and Open Indo-Pacific framework which had highlighted the mutual benefit it enjoyed and shared principles it held with allies in Asia Instead Malaysia s plight exemplifies what a baldly transactional and one-sided approach produces in practice As one ruling-coalition member of parliament in the past few days described Adams would be the rare U S ambassador with whom Malaysian politicians would be loath to pose for photos And that fact alone speaks volumes about diplomacy and evolving global strategic realities in the MAGA era Meredith Weiss Professor of Political Science University at Albany State University of New York This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license Read the original article Read more about this topic MAGA was all about masculinity in too bad they have no idea what that word means Dark leprechaun Conor McGregor MAGA s latest manfluencer Joe Rogan beef shows MAGA male fragility The post Malaysia confronts the realities of MAGA diplomacy and Trump s brash ambassadorial pick appeared first on Salon com