The United States and the Malaysian Economy


Book Description

Introduction : The US, colonial rule and the Malayan economy -- US and Malaya connections: 1870-1918 -- strengthening ties, 1919-1957 -- Mining : Yukon gold to Pacific tin -- Plantation : United States Rubber Company -- Taking the high road : Ford Malaya -- Conclusion : counting the cost -- Epilogue : the future looks bright.




Malaysia


Book Description




Empires at War


Book Description

Asia - with four billion people, almost two-thirds of the world's population, a huge landmass and the fastest-growing economies - has in the past decade transformed the geopolitical global balance. "Empires at War" gives a dramatic narrative account of how this 'Modern Asia' came into being. Taking the bombing of Hiroshima on 6th August 1945 as its starting point, Francis Pike chronicles the modern fortunes of fourteen Asian countries. The iconic figures of post-World War II Asia - Mao, Gandhi, Nehru, Ho Chi Minh, Kim Il Sung, General MacArthur and Lord Mountbatten - figure prominently but so also do a great many lesser-known but pivotal figures. Francis Pike weaves the dramatic events and episodes of the region - the great battles between American and Soviet-backed forces in Korea and Vietnam but also episodes such as Indian 'Partition', Japan's 'Lost Decade', Indonesia's 'Year of Living Dangerously' and Cambodia's 'Killing Fields' - into a coherent whole, which forms the essential guide to the history of modern Asia.




The Reluctant Politician


Book Description

A biography of Malaysia's powerful Home Affairs Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman. Includes facts about Malaysian and Singaporean history, as well as insights into the processes of decolonization and nation building.




Malaya's First Year at the United Nations


Book Description

Dr Ismail's writings and speeches, and his letters to the Tunku, covering a variety of foreign policy issues, are a valuable asset in understanding the unique role he played in the nation's history. He was without doubt the primary architect of Malayan (Malaysian) Foreign Policy. - Tengku Tan Sri Dato' Seri Ahmad Rithauddeen, Former Foreign Minister of Malaysia Not only was Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman Malaysia's first ambassador to the United States and permanent representative to the United Nations, he was also Foreign Affairs Minister in 1959-60. Later, as long-time Home Affairs Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and occasionally Acting Prime Minister, he played a decisive role in making neutrality the pillar of Malaysia's foreign policy. This important collection of notes he wrote to the Tunku in 1958 and of his speeches made in 1957-58 at the UN are being published for the very first time. It gives us a window into his seminal thinking and makes us understand the contribution he made to Malaysian nation-building in the early years. Tawfik Ismail and Ooi Kee Beng deserve kudos for compiling these into one volume and for providing elaborate footnoting that presents the reader with an intriguing picture of the Cold War year of 1958. The book is a "must read" for the diplomatic corps and Malaysian foreign policy analysts. - Johan Saravanamuttu, Former Political Science Professor and Dean, Science University Malaysia (USM)




The United States and the World: Lessons From American Politics and the Presidency


Book Description

This volume argues that the whole 'American Dream' is not about to fade away, while to many Americans, a 'New America' takes shape every time a president is changed. Both are in fact, the two sides of the same coin. On one side, in pursuit of the New America, all the three Presidents featured here - Obama, Trump, and Biden (in his first one hundred days) - have focused on as above in their domestic and foreign policies. On the reverse side, these can also function as guide posts for the respective administrations in their pursuit of the American Dream presented as efforts at nation branding, focusing on domestic and foreign affairs, the quest for greatness and democracy, and the Rule of Law. Despite what has occurred in the United States during the presidencies of Obama, Trump, and Biden, the book's perspective on the future of American politics and the presidency discussed will still remain valid for there is always 'a little bit of the old in the new'.




Southeast Asia and the Vietnam War


Book Description

This book describes and explains Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore’s attitudes and policies regarding the Vietnam War. While it is generally known that all three countries supported the US war effort in Vietnam, it reveals the motivations behind the decisions of the decision makers, the twists and turns and the nuances in the attitudes of Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore following the development of the war from the 1950s through to its end in 1975. Although the principal focus is the three supposedly non-aligned countries - Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, the perspectives of Thailand and the Philippines - the two Southeast Asian countries which were formally allied with the United States - are discussed at the appropriate junctures. It makes an original contribution to the gradually growing literature on the international history of the Vietnam War and furthers our knowledge of the diplomatic history of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore in the early independent years, 1945/1949, 1957 and 1965 respectively, which coincided with early years of the Cold War in Southeast Asia.




The Vietnam War in the Pacific World


Book Description

Fifty years since the signing of the Paris Peace Accords signaled the final withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam, the war's mark on the Pacific world remains. The essays gathered here offer an essential, postcolonial interpretation of a struggle rooted not only in Indochinese history but also in the wider Asia Pacific region. Extending the Vietnam War's historiography away from a singular focus on American policies and experiences and toward fundamental regional dynamics, the book reveals a truly global struggle that made the Pacific world what it is today. Contributors include: David L. Anderson, Mattias Fibiger, Zach Fredman, Marc Jason Gilbert, Alice S. Kim, Mark Atwood Lawrence, Jason Lim, Jana K. Lipman, Greg Lockhart, S. R. Joey Long, Christopher Lovins, Mia Martin Hobbs, Boi Huyen Ngo, Wen-Qing Ngoei, Nathalie Huynh Chau Nguyen, Noriko Shiratori, Lisa Tran, A. Gabrielle Westcott




The UP Saga


Book Description

Fascinating history of United Plantations Berhad, an innovative Scandinavian firm whose approach to local relations was quite different from that of the normal British colonial enterprise. This is the story of not only one company but also of the development of Malaysia's plantations sector as a whole.




The Limits of Empire


Book Description

The most complete picture to date of how U.S. strategies of containment and empire-building spiraled out of control in Southeast Asia, investigating also how the demoralizing experience of Vietnam radically undermined U.S. enthusiasm for the region in a strategic sense.