Law & Paneir

In 2026, global geopolitics is increasingly marked by power politics that test the resilience of international norms, the stability of alliances, and the strategic autonomy of middle powers. Two developments highlight this shift: the United States’ coercive posture toward Greenland and its controversial engagement with Iran’s internal unrest. These episodes show how Washington’s mix of economic pressure and political brinkmanship whether threatening tariffs against European Union nations in support of territorial aims in the Arctic or signalling military responses in the Middle East that can unsettle global stability. For Malaysia, these developments are more than distant headlines; they offer critical lessons on safeguarding sovereignty, defending economic interests, and asserting principled diplomacy. The Greenland standoff became a focal point of international drama when the U.S. hinted at economic coercion and even the use of force to pursue strategic objectives in the Arctic...

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim skilfully presided over ASEAN last year despite a tense geopolitical backdrop, not least trade tensions and the conflict in Gaza, rightly using his chairmanship to showcase Malaysia’s capacity to lead the bloc. Prime Minister Anwar even convinced President Trump to attend November’s Summit in Kuala Lumpur, where he was deftly handled by the Malaysian government. ASEAN welcomes U.S. re-engagement, but the bloc is keen to maintain its centrality to regional policymaking. Putrajaya, in line with ASEAN doctrine, continues to pursue a non-aligned foreign policy in the midst of great power competition, tightening economic ties with China in the past decade while relying on Western nations, primarily the U.S., for security. A free-trading nation like Malaysia is ultimately dependent on a stable Indo-Pacific where the rule of international law is respected, thereby safeguarding investment flows, export demand, and technology transfers. This status quo, however, is ...

Malaysia has long projected an image of internal stability, even as it sits at the heart of global trade routes and depends heavily on migrant labour. That stability, however, is increasingly tested not by overt unrest but by quieter vulnerabilities along its borders and within its migration management systems. A growing body of cases linking extremist facilitation networks, document fraud, and migrant mobility particularly those intersecting with Nepal should prompt a hard reassessment of Malaysia’s border security posture. The real lesson is not about nationality or religion, but about how poorly governed documented and undocumented migration can evolve into a serious national security vulnerability. Malaysia hosts millions of foreign workers across construction, manufacturing, plantations, and services. Among them are hundreds of thousands of Nepali nationals who form an essential part of the workforce. The overwhelming majority are law-abiding individuals seeking economic opp...

Malaysia has long prided itself on maintaining internal stability despite being a magnet for migrant labour and a crossroads of global trade. Thus far, the accumulation of cases involving Nepali nationals, ISIS-linked facilitation networks, and regional terror transit routes should force Kuala Lumpur to reassess a critical blind spot: how external security vulnerabilities migrate along labour and mobility corridors. The Nepal-ISIS nexus is not about stigmatising a nationality; it is about understanding how weak governance, porous borders, and illicit intermediaries can export risk into otherwise stable states like Malaysia. Over the past decade, multiple reports from Malaysian authorities, Nepali media, and regional security analysts have pointed to Nepal’s growing exposure to transnational extremist networks. Nepal’s geography, sandwiched between India and China with an open border regime, has made it attractive as a transit and logistics space rather than a primary theatre of t...

The United States’ offensive strategy in 2026, as it is taking shape under President Donald Trump’s second term, reflects a profound shift in how American power is conceived and deployed. The 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS) abandons the post–Cold War emphasis on liberal internationalism and instead embraces a hard-edged, transactional vision of national interest. “America First” is no longer merely a slogan; it has become a governing doctrine that fuses military force, economic leverage, and political coercion into a single strategic framework. The recent U.S. military action against Venezuela, culminating in the capture of Nicolás Maduro, offers a revealing case study of this new offensive posture and signals what the rest of the world should expect from Washington in 2026. At the heart of the current NSS is a redefinition of threats and priorities. The document frames the international system as a zero-sum arena in which American decline can only be arrested through decisiv...

For Malaysia, China is neither an abstract great power nor a distant geopolitical concept. It is the country’s largest trading partner, a major investor, and an unavoidable presence in regional security calculations. Yet when it comes to Taiwan, China also represents a strategic adversary not in the sense of inevitable hostility, but as a power whose actions could undermine the regional order on which Malaysia’s security and prosperity depend. This tension defines one of the most delicate challenges in Malaysia’s foreign policy today. From Kuala Lumpur’s perspective, the Taiwan issue has traditionally been managed through distance and ambiguity. Malaysia adheres to a one-China policy, avoids commentary on sovereignty questions, and prioritises ASEAN cohesion over bilateral confrontation. This approach was viable when cross-Strait tensions were relatively contained and military force remained a distant possibility. That era is ending. China’s increasingly assertive posture toward ...

For young Malaysians, civic participation today is inseparable from digital life. Political debate unfolds on social media, petitions circulate on messaging apps, and mobilization often begins with a hashtag rather than a town hall. Against this backdrop, Part II of the Federal Constitution guaranteeing Fundamental Liberties cannot be treated as a static post-independence document; rather, it must function as a living framework whose legitimacy depends on its ability to protect rights in the digital age. The question for the younger generation is not whether the Constitution promises freedom, but whether those promises meaningfully survive in a digital civic space increasingly regulated by the state. Article 10 of the Federal Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, assembly and association. For young Malaysians, this provision underpins digital expression: posting political commentary, organizing campaigns, or criticizing public officials online. In theory, these acts are mo...

From 2020 through 2025, global terrorism has repeatedly demonstrated that periods of celebration whether religious holidays, New Year’s festivities, or crowded cultural events remain attractive targets for violent actors seeking maximum psychological impact. Indeed, the strategic logic of terrorism increasingly exploits not only symbolic dates but also high-density public spaces where disruption can amplify fear far beyond the immediate victims. This evolving threat environment holds stark lessons for nations like Malaysia, which must balance open civic life with the imperative of public safety. A series of high-profile incidents highlights the ongoing and varied nature of the threat. In late 2025, an attack at a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach left at least 16 people dead and many others injured, showing how violence can reach even public, family-oriented events despite prior security warnings that proved insufficient. Earlier in 2025, American authorities were conf...