A much anticipated meeting it must be; to finally be able to meet with the biggest stakeholder of the pursuit of liberal democracy; President Barack Obama himself.
It was reported by The Malay Mail that President Obama will be conducting a meeting ‘behind closed doors’ with 10 representatives from the so called, ‘civil’ society groups. Some of the groups named were IRF, Sisters in Islam, Tenaganita, SUHAKAM, as well as some of the key players of BERSIH including the Malaysian Human Rights Society (HAKAM), represented by Datuk Ambiga herself. A quick look at the list of groups involved, one might be mistaken with COMANGO, the coalition of small groups that seek to protest against the status quo of Malaysia’s legal and constitutional system.
Upon analyzing various reports issued by Research and Development (RAND) Corporation, a policy think tank funded by the US government, we’ll see how liberal organizations in Malaysia seek to redefine the status of Islam through various means of social conditioning. Like clockwork, the upcoming meeting is part of a grand design that was crafted since the end of the Cold War. RAND described that the war of ideologies between communism and liberal democracy during the Cold War is identical to today’s war against Islamism. It is ‘both a battle of arms and a battle of ideas’, in which ultimate victory can be achieved when Islamist ideologies are rejected from the eyes of their host countries and tacit supporters. In countries where a more gentle approach is plausible, civil society groups are preferred. Where such approach would not be as effective, a more physical approach may be necessary.
RAND regarded the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the Asia Foundation as a powerful tool in amplifying the message of liberal democracy in Southeast Asia. The NED and the Asia Foundation has played a pivotal role in establishing the relationship between America and liberal groups in Malaysia. In 2012 alone, NED allocated a total of RM 2.2 mil in funds to support groups such as KiniTV Sdn Bhd, Islamic Renaissance Front Berhad and Lawyers for Liberty. Sisters in Islam and Tenaganita were also some of the notable groups affiliated with RAND’s Asia Foundation.
This relationship between America and liberal organizations is nothing new. We’ve seen the same modus operandi in Egypt where liberal groups have propagated anti-Islamist ideas through radio and television channels funded by the NED. A total of USD 0.9 mil was allocated by the NED in funding 22 liberal organizations in Egypt. As a result, anti-Islamist ideologies were able to significantly influence public opinion which eventually led to the downfall of President Mohamed Morsi.
RAND considers Southeast Asia as an ‘obvious area of focus’ mainly because of its large concentration of Muslims in the world and its ‘famously tolerant’ character in which coexistence has been a cultural and religious tradition for decades. This has been the grounds of which the plot to establish a more liberal Malaysia has been designed.
We’ve studied the relationship between the US and so called ‘civil’ society organizations in their quest of redefining Islam in Malaysia in accordance to the liberal democratic ideals of America. In the past, their relationships were discrete. Today, they are about to hold hands with their biggest stakeholder; Mr. Obama himself.
Considering all the above, it would explain why the opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim is so keen to arrange a meeting with the President. As described by Anwar, the encounter would’ve been ‘consistent with US democratic ideals and its foreign policy of promoting freedom and justice’.
Yusri Jamaluddin
ISMA Activist
MSc Business Analytics,
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York.
