Malaysia's united nations peacekeeping operations in the post cold-war era

Asri Salleh (2017) Malaysia's united nations peacekeeping operations in the post cold-war era. Doctoral thesis, Universiti Malaysia Sabah.

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Abstract

Small and developing states make up the most participants of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO). Malaysia is one of those. However, states participation is voluntary. Accordingly, it has led Malaysia's UNPKO to be precarious and selective, causing it to be incoherent. In attempting to examine the determinants of such, by relying on qualitative data collection methods such as key informant interviews and documentary analysis, via neoclassical realism analytical framework, this study has found that, under different contexts and time, the prime ministers had different perceptions of the prevailing systemic-external and domestic-internal pressures that accordingly influenced Malaysia's participations thereafter. Nonetheless, systemic-external pressures generated by bipolar and unipolar world orders had greater influence as opposed to domestic-internal ones. Yet, under specific circumstance, the prime ministers had perceived the systemic pressures to be indeterminate. As a result, it had allowed the prime ministers to assume the independent causal role vis-a-vis Malaysia's UNPKO. Combined, these imperatives sufficiently account for the precarious pattern of Malaysia's UNPKO. In addition to that, it is also consistent with realism's primacy of security and power interests, over values or norms, in influencing small and developing states' behaviour. Thus, this study has supplied two major original contributions to international relations body of knowledge, particularly for UN peacekeeping studies. Firstly, in terms of theoretical approach, the employment of the neoclassical realism based analytical framework has improved the explanatory power of the realist paradigm on the international relations of small power facing and reacting to pressures brought about by emergent structural power configuration. Subsequently, this might assist other researchers to examine other small and developing states' UNPKO along similar line of reasoning. Secondly, while most extant literature of Malaysia's UNPKO singles out domestic imperatives as the most vital determinant, this study, on the contrary, has comprehensively identified the prevailing world security order as the most important determinant influencing Malaysia's UNPKO, followed by the domestic ones.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Keyword:	United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, UNPKO, Malaysia foreign policy, Small and developing states, Neoclassical realism, International relations theory, Systemic-external pressures
Subjects:	J Political Science > JZ International relations > JZ5-6530 International relations > JZ6360-6377 Non-military coercion
Department:	FACULTY > Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Heritage
Depositing User:	DG MASNIAH AHMAD -
Date Deposited:	10 Oct 2025 16:16
Last Modified:	10 Oct 2025 16:16
URI:	https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/45343

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