The South China Sea and Energy Security: Malaysia's Reaction to Emerging Geopolitical Reconfigurations (original) (raw)

The aim of this article is to assess Malaysia's approach to the presence of the U.S., and China in the South China Sea. Malaysia's strategy is directed at avoiding being entwined in big power rivalry. However, reality dictates that regional powers, such as Malaysia, have to carefully strategize their links with larger powers in order to secure their rights over the natural resources that are available there, as well as to prevent the militariza-tion of energy security. The hypothesis of this article is that the reorientation of the re-militarization of energy security in the South China Sea has changed the geopoliti-cal motives of the players, mainly the U.S., and China, to a neoclassical realist forward approach. We conclude that Malaysia's " hedging " role in the South China Sea is motivated by the potential conflict for hegemony and energy security between the U.S. and China.

Sign up for access to the world's latest research.

checkGet notified about relevant papers

checkSave papers to use in your research

checkJoin the discussion with peers

checkTrack your impact