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Malaysia’s relations with Saudi Arabia and Iran: Juggling the interests

The Middle East region, especially the oil-rich Arab economies, is regarded as one of Malaysia’s important economic and trading partners. Economic and political changes at the global and regional level have simultaneously shifted Malaysia’s interests in the region. At the same time, there has also b...

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Main Authors: Mohd Fauzi Abu–Hussin, Asmady Idris, Mohd Afandi Salleh
Format: Article
Language:English
English
Published: SAGE Publications 2018
Subjects:
HB848-3697 Demography. Population. Vital events
Online Access:https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/33066/1/Malaysia%E2%80%99s%20relations%20with%20Saudi%20Arabia%20and%20Iran%2C%20Juggling%20the%20interests.ABSTARCT.pdf
https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/33066/2/Malaysia%E2%80%99s%20Relations%20with%20Saudi%20Arabia%20and%20Iran%2C%20Juggling%20the%20Interests.pdf
https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/33066/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322432888_Malaysia%27s_Relations_with_Saudi_Arabia_and_Iran_Juggling_the_Interests
https://doi.org/10.1177/2347798917744294
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spelling my.ums.eprints.330662022-07-14T02:17:07Z https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/33066/ Malaysia’s relations with Saudi Arabia and Iran: Juggling the interests Mohd Fauzi Abu–Hussin Asmady Idris Mohd Afandi Salleh HB848-3697 Demography. Population. Vital events The Middle East region, especially the oil-rich Arab economies, is regarded as one of Malaysia’s important economic and trading partners. Economic and political changes at the global and regional level have simultaneously shifted Malaysia’s interests in the region. At the same time, there has also been rising interest from countries in the region to expand their economic relationships with Malaysia. Apart from the United Arab Emirates, which is Malaysia’s largest trading partner in the Middle East region, Saudi Arabia and Iran are now becoming more visible for their contributions toward the Malaysian economy. Economic interest certainly is the main driving force behind the latter’s efforts to enhance its connection with these countries. Efforts to reap economic benefit from these countries and to attract petro-dollar investments would also have negative consequences on Malaysia’s domestic, social, and religious affairs due to an influx of Arab and Iranian people coming into the country. Religious extremism and sectarianism are among the challenges that Malaysia is encountering and the authorities are quite critical of those ideologies, and over the years, the teaching of Wahhabism and Shiism have been banned in the country. Could this affect Malaysia’s connection with those countries in the Persian Gulf? How has the government engaged with these local issues without jeopardizing its economic inter-connection with Saudi Arabia and Iran? Given that they are two contrasting countries, how has Malaysia balanced its relationships with these two states? SAGE Publications 2018-01 Article PeerReviewed text en https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/33066/1/Malaysia%E2%80%99s%20relations%20with%20Saudi%20Arabia%20and%20Iran%2C%20Juggling%20the%20interests.ABSTARCT.pdf text en https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/33066/2/Malaysia%E2%80%99s%20Relations%20with%20Saudi%20Arabia%20and%20Iran%2C%20Juggling%20the%20Interests.pdf Mohd Fauzi Abu–Hussin and Asmady Idris and Mohd Afandi Salleh (2018) Malaysia’s relations with Saudi Arabia and Iran: Juggling the interests. Contemporary review of the middle east, 5 (1). pp. 46-64. ISSN 2347-7989 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322432888_Malaysia%27s_Relations_with_Saudi_Arabia_and_Iran_Juggling_the_Interests https://doi.org/10.1177/2347798917744294
institution Universiti Malaysia Sabah
building UMS Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaysia Sabah
content_source UMS Institutional Repository
url_provider http://eprints.ums.edu.my/
language English
English
topic HB848-3697 Demography. Population. Vital events
spellingShingle HB848-3697 Demography. Population. Vital events
Mohd Fauzi Abu–Hussin
Asmady Idris
Mohd Afandi Salleh
Malaysia’s relations with Saudi Arabia and Iran: Juggling the interests
description The Middle East region, especially the oil-rich Arab economies, is regarded as one of Malaysia’s important economic and trading partners. Economic and political changes at the global and regional level have simultaneously shifted Malaysia’s interests in the region. At the same time, there has also been rising interest from countries in the region to expand their economic relationships with Malaysia. Apart from the United Arab Emirates, which is Malaysia’s largest trading partner in the Middle East region, Saudi Arabia and Iran are now becoming more visible for their contributions toward the Malaysian economy. Economic interest certainly is the main driving force behind the latter’s efforts to enhance its connection with these countries. Efforts to reap economic benefit from these countries and to attract petro-dollar investments would also have negative consequences on Malaysia’s domestic, social, and religious affairs due to an influx of Arab and Iranian people coming into the country. Religious extremism and sectarianism are among the challenges that Malaysia is encountering and the authorities are quite critical of those ideologies, and over the years, the teaching of Wahhabism and Shiism have been banned in the country. Could this affect Malaysia’s connection with those countries in the Persian Gulf? How has the government engaged with these local issues without jeopardizing its economic inter-connection with Saudi Arabia and Iran? Given that they are two contrasting countries, how has Malaysia balanced its relationships with these two states?
format Article
author Mohd Fauzi Abu–Hussin
Asmady Idris
Mohd Afandi Salleh
author_facet Mohd Fauzi Abu–Hussin
Asmady Idris
Mohd Afandi Salleh
author_sort Mohd Fauzi Abu–Hussin
title Malaysia’s relations with Saudi Arabia and Iran: Juggling the interests
title_short Malaysia’s relations with Saudi Arabia and Iran: Juggling the interests
title_full Malaysia’s relations with Saudi Arabia and Iran: Juggling the interests
title_fullStr Malaysia’s relations with Saudi Arabia and Iran: Juggling the interests
title_full_unstemmed Malaysia’s relations with Saudi Arabia and Iran: Juggling the interests
title_sort malaysia’s relations with saudi arabia and iran: juggling the interests
publisher SAGE Publications
publishDate 2018
url https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/33066/1/Malaysia%E2%80%99s%20relations%20with%20Saudi%20Arabia%20and%20Iran%2C%20Juggling%20the%20interests.ABSTARCT.pdf
https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/33066/2/Malaysia%E2%80%99s%20Relations%20with%20Saudi%20Arabia%20and%20Iran%2C%20Juggling%20the%20Interests.pdf
https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/33066/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322432888_Malaysia%27s_Relations_with_Saudi_Arabia_and_Iran_Juggling_the_Interests
https://doi.org/10.1177/2347798917744294
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score 13.211869

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