Abstract

This paper analyses the role of Islam in Malaysian foreign relations under the Premiership of Najib Razak. While most observers acknowledge the importance of Islam to Malaysian foreign policy making under Prime Ministers Mahathir Mohamad (1981 to 2003) and Abdullah Badawi (2004 to 2008), they tend to underplay its significance in Najib’s tenure as leader of Malaysia. Departing from this, we suggest that Islam was significant in Najib’s foreign policy in three ways. First, Najib utilized regional and international conflicts involving Muslims, particularly the Rohingyas and Palestinians, in order to construct Malaysia as a guardian of disenfranchised Muslims. Second, Najib relied on the notion of wasattiyah (the middle way) in order to buttress Malaysia’s image as a moderate Muslim country. Finally, Najib rationalized Malaysia’s alignment with Saudi Arabia in the Saudi-Iran geopolitical rivalry in religio-political terms. To make these arguments, we utilize a state identities approach to studying foreign policy. We unpack the notion of Muslim state identity into three manifestations: the activist Muslim state, the moderate Muslim state, and the Sunni Muslim state. The paper draws on both primary and secondary sources. We conclude with the conceptual implications of our argument.

抽象的

本文分析了纳吉·拉扎克（Najib Razak）担任总理期间伊斯兰在马来西亚外交关系中的作用。虽然大多数观察家都承认伊斯兰教对总理马哈迪·穆罕默德（1981至2003年）和阿卜杜拉·巴达维（2004至2008年）领导下的马来西亚外交政策的重要性，但他们往往在纳吉担任马来西亚领导人期间低估了伊斯兰的重要性。与此不同的是，我们认为伊斯兰在纳吉的外交政策中具有三方面的意义。首先，纳吉利用包括穆斯林在内的区域和国际冲突，尤其是罗兴亚人和巴勒斯坦人，从而将马来西亚建设为被剥夺权利的穆斯林的监护人。其次，纳吉（Najib）依靠wasattiyah的概念（中间方式）是为了支撑马来西亚作为温和穆斯林国家的形象。最后，纳吉从宗教政治角度合理化了马来西亚与沙特阿拉伯在沙特-伊朗地缘政治竞争中的结盟。为了提出这些论点，我们利用一种国家认同的方法来研究外交政策。我们将穆斯林国家身份的概念分解为三种表现形式：激进的穆斯林国家，温和的穆斯林国家和逊尼派穆斯林国家。本文借鉴了主要和次要来源。我们以论点的概念含义作为结论。