fFr relatively smaller Southeast Asian nations, multilateralism is simply too important to fail. Done right, it provides a perch of equality and effective cooperation for complex challenges that no one country–even a small group of powerful countries–can handle alone. 

Asia is filled with large, capable, self-interested powers. And increasingly, without looking to either Washington or Beijing, these players are setting diverse and sometimes competing rules on the market and regulatory matters that affect business.

The interaction of national armed forces and private business sectors offers a useful lens for viewing the politics of numerous countries of the so-called Global South. A rising trend of military political activism—often accompanied by military commercial activity—underlines the importance of drivers and outcomes in these relationships.

Southeast Asian states must recognise that it is not only countries but also large companies which shift the power balance on the global stage

Comparison of the two countries’ social media environments shows how tech companies and policymakers can work to combat autocratic coercion.

At a time when the status quo no longer adequately reflects the desires of the global majority, it only makes sense for Malaysia to seek a more active role in different forums to secure its interests.