Special Relationship in the Malay World: Indonesia and Malaysia

This book offers an illuminating account of how material and ideational dynamics shape the evolution of Malaysia–Indonesia relations. Focusing on what is arguably the most vital bilateral relationship in Southeast Asia, it addresses the circumstances, conditions and constraints that determine the double-edged effects of the culturally bound "special relationship". The author, Ho Ying Chan, argues that while their shared serumpun identities and strategic interests do give rise to a considerable closeness between Malaysia and Indonesia, the politics of power (im)balance has prevented the transformation of the special relationship into a "pluralistic security community", as their egoistic understanding averts the formation of collective self.