Joining BRICS Reflects Malaysia's Preparedness In Facing New World Order

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 (Bernama) -- The decision for Malaysia to join BRICS is not merely a political convenience, but reflects the country’s preparedness to navigate a world increasingly shifting towards a multipolar order, said Syed Nizamuddin Sayed Khassim, co-founder of MyDiplomacy, the youth empowerment movement in diplomacy.

As a civil servant and diplomat, Syed Nizamuddin emphasised that Malaysia should prepare itself to actively contribute to a framework that shapes a new world order embracing multipolarity, rather than just surviving in an increasingly complex world.

“In the jargon of international relations, Malaysia’s approach to navigating the challenges posed by competing great powers is referred to as hedging, which is a strategy that allows a country to avoid fully aligning with any specific power bloc while maintaining good relationships with various parties as a precautionary measure.

“This approach enables the country to maintain flexibility, balance, and agility in its foreign policy, while also avoiding the risks of overdependence that could undermine national sovereignty,” he said in a statement today.

In this context, Syed Nizamuddin views Malaysia’s decision to join BRICS as a continuation of a consistent hedging policy, as well as an effort to reduce Malaysia's dependence on the US dollar, in line with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's goals.

“While there is debate regarding the effectiveness of BRICS, one thing is certain; that it is a group of countries that challenges Western dominance in the world order,” said the diplomat who completed his MSt in Diplomatic Studies at the University of Oxford and holding a Master's in Public Administration (MPA) from Universiti Malaya.

On Oct 24, Bernama reported that Malaysia has been recognised as one of 13 countries officially added as a partner countries to BRICS, a bloc that collectively contributes to one-fifth of global trade.

According to an update from @BRICSInfo on X, the bloc officially added 13 new countries to the alliance as partner nations, though not yet as full members.

For the record, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had, on July 28, confirmed that Malaysia had submitted an application to Russia to join the BRICS intergovernmental organisation.

Syed Nizamuddin, who is also a diplomatic columnist, noted that Malaysia's foreign policy has historically been consistently shaped by pragmatism and national survival, even though it was pro-Western in its early years.

He said this was due to the country’s dependence on Western nations for defence and national survival at that time, particularly in the face of communist threats and confrontations from Indonesia, considering that the British Naval Base in Sembawang, Singapore, served as a key defence hub for the British in Southeast Asia.

However, this foreign policy began to shift after Britain withdrew from the “east of the Suez Canal” in 1967, prompting Malaysia to realise that it needed to protect its own interests amid the rapidly changing world order.

“Malaysia started to change its approach by joining the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in 1970 and became the first Southeast Asian non-communist country to establish diplomatic relations with Beijing in 1974.

“This drastic shift in foreign policy during Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak’s administration did not mean that Malaysia had changed its alliances.

“On the contrary, the country continued to maintain strong ties with the United States and other Western powers, like ‘rowing between two reefs’,”  he added.

-- BERNAMA