MALAYSIA is among the top three most improved middle powers in Asia in 2019, following the return of Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister after last year’s elections, said an Australian think-tank.

Lowy Institute, in an analytical study of the influence of countries around the world, also placed Malaysia ninth among a list of 25 most influential countries in Asia.

“The power of leaders to shape their countries’ foreign policy is reaffirmed in ninth-placing Malaysia’s strong performance, following the surprise return to office of 93-year-old Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2018,” it said.

Malaysia scored 22.8 on the institute’s Asia power index, an analytical tool that ranks 25 countries and territories in terms of their capacity to influence regional events.

The United States is the most influential at 84.5, followed by China (75.9), Japan (42.5) and India (41). 

The project evaluates state power through 126 indicators across eight thematic measures: military capability and defence networks, economic resources and relationships, diplomatic and cultural influence, as well as resilience and future resources.

Power is measured by distinguishing between resource measures that look at what countries have and influence measures that assess what countries do with what they have.

The report noted that Malaysia’s impressive ranking was a big shift for its stature which “had diminished since the heyday of the first Dr Mahathir premiership two decades ago”.

Pakatan Harapan succeeded in dislodging Barisan Nasional in the May 9 polls last year, marking the first change in government in the nation’s history.

According to Lowy Institute, although Malaysia dropped one place in economic resources in 2019 because of the growth of neighbouring economies, it fared better than in the last year across the index’s influence measures.

“Malaysia has resumed its standing among the top 10 most diplomatically influential powers in Asia and trended upwards for defence diplomacy.

“Kuala Lumpur’s external policy under Dr Mahathir 2.0 has explicitly been refocused on the geo-economic security, resilience and bargaining power of Southeast Asian states facing rivalry and turbulence as a result of the trade war between the US and China,” it said.

“Dr Mahathir has succeeded in obtaining more favourable terms for foreign-funded infrastructure projects – notably a major Chinese-funded rail project linking Kuala Lumpur to southern Thailand – while maintaining close ties to Beijing.”

The analysis also ranked Malaysia as an overachiever whose influence outpaced its resources.

“South Korea, Australia, Malaysia and Singapore have more influence than their raw capabilities would indicate.

“This points to their ability and willingness to work collaboratively with other countries to pursue their interests. They are highly networked and externally focused.” – May 29, 2019.