XT OF AN ADDRESS BY Y.B. TAN SRI M. GHAZALI AFIE, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, ON CURRENT VELOPMENTS IN BIG POWER POLITICS AND PPORTUNITIES FOR SOUTHEAST ASIA AT THE STAFF JOLLEGE, MINDEF, 15TH NOVEMBER, 1983.
GIVEN THE COMPLEXITY OF INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS IT IS INDEED DIFFICULT AND SOMETIMES
HAR ZARDOUS TO UNDERTAKE AN ANALYSIS OF THE GLOBAL SITUATION AT ANY POINT IN TIME. YET ANALYSE WE MUST IF WE ARE TO ARRIVE AT CORRECT AND RATIONAL CONCLUSIONS UPON WHICH WE BASE OUR NATIONAL POLICIES.
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2. ALL ANALYSES, OF COURSE, ARE MADE FROM A CERTAIN VANTAGE POINT, WHICH OFFERS A CERTAIN SET OF PERSPECTIVES. WHAT I PROPOSE TO DO THIS EVENING IS TO MAKE CERTAIN COMMENTS, OBSERVATIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL SITUATION, AS SEEN FROM THE VANTAGE POINT OF MALAYSIA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA IN GENERAL, WHICH, I HOPE, WILL PROVIDE AN ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THOSE KEEN STUDENTS OF MALAYSIAN FOREIGN POLICY, IN THE UNDERSTANDING OF THAT POLICY.
3. IN A WORLD OF: CHANGE IN WHICH IT IS SAID THAT THE ONLY CONSTANT IS CHANGE ITSELF THE RIVALRY OR COMPETITION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE SOVIET UNION HAS CERTAINLY REMAINED ONE OF THE MORE CONSTANT ELEMENTS IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS SINCE THE END OF THE LAST WORLD WAR. WHILE THE SCOPE, DIMENSIONS AND INTENSITY OF THIS RIVALRY BETWEEN THE TWO SUPER POWERS HAVE WAXED AND WANED THESE LAST THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS THE CENTRAL THRUSTS AND MOTIVATIONS HAVE REMAINED LARGELY INTACT: THESE BEING THE COMPETITION FOR POLITICAL PREPONDERANCE AND IDEOLOGICAL SWAY OVER THE REST OF THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY OF NATION STATES.
21. FOLLOWING A BRIEF ATTEMPT AT RAPPROCHEMENT DURING THE NIXON-KISSINGER INTERREGNUM DURING WHICH CERTAIN REAL BREAKTHROUGHS IN THE RELATIONSHIPS OF THE TWO SUPER-POWER ADVERSARIES WERE ACHIEVED THAT COULD HAVE PAVED THE WAY TO A MORE MATURE AND STABLE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEM THEREBY ENGENDERING GREATER PROSPECTS FOR WORLD PEACE AND STABILITY. THE BITTER RIVALRY WAS REVIVED AND IS NOW PLAYED OUT AGAIN ALMOST WITH A VENGEANCE. THE FAILURE OF DETENTE AS THAT PERIOD OF RAPPROCHEMENT BECAME TO BE KNOWN, WAS LARGELY DUE TO MUTUAL MISUNDERSTANDING BETWEEN MOSCOW AND WASHINGTON ON THEIR RESPECTIVE CONCEPTION OF DETENTE AS WELL AS OF THE RULES BY WHICH THE GAME WAS TO BE PLAYED.