Introduction : The US, colonial rule and the Malayan economy -- US and Malaya connections: 1870-1918 -- strengthening ties, 1919-1957 -- Mining : Yukon gold to Pacific tin -- Plantation : United States Rubber Company -- Taking the high road : Ford Malaya -- Conclusion : counting the cost -- Epilogue : the future looks bright.

This volume, a discerning examination of what might be termed Greater Malaysia, is the first comprehensive analysis of American-Malaysian relations and Malaysian foreign policy. A strategic geographic position and rich natural resources lend obvious importance to this region, which encompasses Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei. But it is especially significant for its extraordinary political, cultural, and economic accomplishments. Achieving a peaceful transition from British colonies to independence, Malaysia and Singapore formed strong democratic governments and assumed an increasingly responsible role in the international community. The Malay, Chinese, and Indian residents of this area are a fine example of three communities of differing race, religion, and way of life existing together in harmony and cooperation. And the economic system, a successful combination of free enterprise and an extensive social welfare program, continues its stable development. Mr. Gould introduces his work with a geographic description of the lands, a lively ethnographic portrait of each of the three major racial communities, and a brief history of the numerous cultures that have had an impact on the Malaysian peoples. He then examines the governments of Malaysia, which have the problem of "creating a nation out of a multi-racial society in which communalism and local interests are far stronger than the sense of nationalism." Proceeding to the larger problem of establishing a Malaysian nation, he analyzes the forces promoting unity and disunity. Surveying Malaysia's economic progress, the author notes its dependence on the United States, the biggest buyer of Malaysia's rubber and tin, and he projects sustained economic growth. He then discusses Malaysia's regional and international relations, outlining those factors that influence its foreign policy. Concluding with a perceptive interpretation of the United States's connection to the area, he highlights the long history of friendship; the economic interdependence; the American commitment to help Malaysia maintain its political independence and further develop its viable economy; and recent aid and political relations.

This pioneering volume develops an institutionalist analysis of Malaysias post-colonial economy by exploring the political economy of development and particularly the interface between economics and law. The various authors show that economic policy initiatives in Malaysia have often been accompanied by corresponding legislative and regulatory reforms intended to create an appropriate legal environment, and that economic problems or crises arising from earlier policies have led to major legislative innovations.

This book uses the concepts of rent and rent-seeking to study Malaysian political economy.

Does the industrial development of a country entail the democratization of its political system? Malaysia in the World Economy examines this theme with regards to Malaysia in the period between 1824 and 2011. Capitalism was first introduced into Malaysia through colonialism specifically to supply Britain with much-needed raw materials for its industrial development. Aside from economic exploitation, colonial rule had also produced a highly unequal and socially distant multicultural society, whose multifaceted divisions kept the colonial rulers in supreme authority. After independence, Britain ensured that Malaysia became a staunch western ally by structuring in a capitalist system specifically helmed by western-educated elites through what appeared to be "formal" democratic institutions. In such a system, the Malaysian ruling elites have been able to "manage" the country's democratic processes to its advantage as well as preempt or suppress serious internal challenges to its power, often in the name of national stability. As a result, an increasingly unpopular National Front political coalition has remained in power in the country since 1957. Meanwhile, Malaysia's marginal position in the world economy, which has maintained its economic subordination to the developed countries of the west and Japan, has reproduced the internal social inequities inherited from colonial rule and channeled the largest returns of economic growths into the hands of the country's foreign investors as well as local elites associated with the ruling machinery. Over the years however, the state has lost some of its political legitimacy in the face of widening social disparities, increased ethnic polarization, and prevalent corruption. This has been made possible by extensive exposures of these issues via new social media and communications technology. Hence, informational globalization may have begun to empower Malaysians in a new struggle for political reform, thereby reconfiguring the balance of power between the state and civil society. Unlike other past research, Malaysia in the World Economy combines both macro- and micro-theoretical approaches in critically analyzing the relationship between capitalist development and democratization in Malaysia within a comparative-historical and world-systemic context.