Political Islam in Southeast Asia by Angel Rabasa

Author:Angel Rabasa [Rabasa, Angel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, General, Strategy, Political Science, Political Freedom, Political Ideologies
ISBN: 9781136053764
Google: 6XhcBAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2014-08-27T16:06:54+00:00

Conclusion

As Malaysia approaches the end of the Mahathir era, the governing coalition appears solid and likely to improve its parliamentary position in the 2004 elections. PAS is isolated, and proposed measures to restructure religious education could, if successful, reduce one of its principal sources of future strength. At the same time, the new education initiatives point to the exhaustion of the policy of Islamisation that has informed UMNO's philosophy of governance since the early 1980s. UMNO's success in finding a new balance between the expectations of its Malay constituency and the requirements of governing a modernising, multi-ethnic society will determine whether PAS' brand of political Islam will be contained as the political project of a minority within the Malay Muslim community, or whether it comes to threaten Malaysia's model of political compromise and coexistence among the country's various communities.

Malaysia's future direction is, of course, of great concern to Singapore. As a small, multi-ethnic, but predominantly ethnic Chinese island surrounded by Muslim states, and dependent on international links for its economic survival, Singapore is extremely sensitive to changes in its security environment. For this reason, the authorities are concerned not only about relations among the ethnic communities in Singapore itself, but also about the inroads of militant Islam in its larger neighbours. Singapore's success as a state rests ultimately on its ability to maintain and strengthen its national cohesion and the multi-ethnic character of its society. Beyond that, it seeks to maintain a stable order in Southeast Asia and to work with the US and other international actors to support, to the greatest extent possible, regional governments and institutions that are seen as barriers to the spread of Islamic extremism.

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