The ASEM Education Process: Implications for higher education internationalization in Malaysia

The education process of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) has played an important role in higher education internationalisation since the establishment of ASEM in Bangkok, Thailand in 1996. The ASEM Education Process (AEP) consists of 53 ASEM partners and more than 15 ASEM education stakeholders who meet regularly for discussions on policies and reform measures. There are four priority areas and two transversal themes introduced in the AEP for policy direction and strategy implementation in the field of higher education. Malaysia has participated in the AEP since 2008 and has led and organised various initiatives and meetings on the internationalisation of higher education and global recognition. This study aims to explore the implications of the AEP for the process of internationalisation of higher education in Malaysia. A qualitative study with semi-structured interviews was conducted with fifteen senior officers of the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia and five Malaysian research universities. The data were analysed by employing the Qualitative Data Analysis software, the Nvivo version 11, to identify themes and categories. The findings reveal that the AEP can play a major role in internationalising Malaysian higher education through effective networking and strategic alliances. The four priority areas of the AEP has provided opportunities for Malaysia to work closely with European and Asian counterparts in the field of higher education. The findings can assist the Malaysian higher education stakeholder to participate actively in the inter-regional organisation to learn and share best practices and to formulate and revise policies on higher education internationalisation.

Triangularity of nuclear arms control: Possible implications of China's involvement in nuclear arms talks

Beijing explains its firm unwillingness to join the United States and Russia in nuclear arms control talks by the fact that China’s nuclear arsenal is incomparable with respective potentials of the world’s two leading nuclear powers. China urges Russia and the U.S. to go ahead with the nuclear disarmament process on a bilateral basis, and promises it will be prepared to consider the possibility of its participation in the negotiations only when its counterparts have downgraded their arsenals approximately to China’s level. Washington finds this totally unacceptable and demands that China either join the existing Russian-U.S. strategic New START treaty right away or agree to enter into a trilateral nuclear arms control format. This article studies the prospects of China’s involvement in nuclear arms talks and analyzes the true reasons behind Beijing’s desire to avoid any nuclear disarmament deals at this point. The working hypothesis of this paper is that China’s stance on the above issue is by no means far-fetched or propagandistic, and that it is driven by fundamental political, military and strategic considerations. Disregard for this factor and further forceful efforts to bring China to the negotiating table to discuss nuclear arms control will lead to failure.

Collaborative Training in Research Methodology: a case of Malaysia and Laos

One important aspect of the ASEAN vision is that ASEAN countries strive for equitable economic development and therefore concerted efforts must be made to narrow the development gap between ASEAN countries. This is prioritised in the Initiative for ASEAN Integration which outlines several activities that are designed to assist CLMV countries achieve deeper regional integration while supporting national development priorities and inclusive development. While there has been improvement, there is still significant variance in development achievements. The gaps are wide not only in achievements in income but also in education and health outcomes. This case study provides a description of a Malaysian and Lao collaboration in English language and research methodology training and the challenges faced in doing social science research among Lao academics. The collaboration addresses the developmental divide through knowledge exchange, engagement and collaboration, and capacity building in development between the parties involved.

COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the labour market in ASEAN countries

This paper aims to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labour market in ten ASEAN countries, namely Brunei, Lao PDR Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand. A flu virus first detected in China later affected neighbouring Southeast Asian countries. Although the pandemic has varying implications and at varying levels, it has a negative impact on the ASEAN economies. The labour market is affected as economic activities came to a halt when ASEAN governments-imposed lockdowns or restricted movement. Job losses continue to escalate amid the pandemic, vulnerable workers such as those working in informal sectors, self-employed workers, gig workers, migrant workers, and micro, small and medium enterprises are facing a tough labour market and also at risk of losing livelihood due to lockdown. Post-COVID-19, ASEAN region sees the need for collective action to build the economy, leveraging on technology and digital trade. The pandemic may reshape ASEAN’s digital landscape in the labour market especially on the way work is done in the future.

Unavoidability of Sino-American rift: History of strategic decoupling

Does our history only appear overheated, while it is essentially calmly predetermined? Is it directional or conceivable, dialectic and eclectic or cyclical, and therefore cynical? Surely, our history warns (no matter if the Past is seen as a destination or resource). Does it also provide for a hope? Hence, what is in front of us: destiny or future? Theory loves to teach us that extensive debates on what kind of economic system is most conductive to human wellbeing is what consumed most of our civilizational vertical. However, our history has a different say: It seems that the manipulation of the global political economy (and usage of fear as the currency of control) – far more than the introduction of ideologies – is the dominant and arguably more durable way that human elites usually conspired to build or break civilizations, as planned projects.

A Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery Model: The national domestic economic auto-sustainability Model (NDEAS-Model)

The significant damage of COVID-19 on the world economy forces us to reconsider a deep restructuration domestically and internationally in the next few years. This paper suggests a Post-COVID-19 reconstruction model is called “The National Domestic Economic Auto-Sustainability Model (NDEAS-Model).” The NDEAS-Model proposes four economic platforms: (i) the domestic education and technical training standardization platform (P1); (ii) the domestic productive infrastructure and transportation platform (P2); (iii) the selective strategic trade, investment, and tourism protection platform (P3); (iv) the environmental and natural resources management platform (P4). The main objective of NDEAS-Model is to avoid imported massive pandemic diseases, non-sustainable and weak food security platforms, and job diversion, respectively.

The internationalisation of higher education: a networking based conceptual framework

Internationalisation is an important worldwide phenomenon and a major trend in higher education. It is also one of the ways nations react to the impact of globalisation. There are multiple rationales that encourage various national governments, higher education institutions, international organisations and the private sector to proactively engage in educational services across national borders. Internationalisation theories have primarily focused on the internationalisation process in the business and economic dimensions, but since 1980s, it has influenced the structure of education and higher education systems. The network approach emphasises the benefits of developing long-term interactions with foreign markets, institutions and individuals. Networking also provides an important motivation for nations and higher education institutions to enrich international activities and expand their landscape, share best practices as well as transfer knowledge and balance risks. The study explores the Uppsala and network theories of internationalisation and its feasibility for examining networking in the internationalisation of higher education. It provides new insights into how the network model of internationalisation allows the influence of external actors or organisations to impact on the process of internationalisation of higher education. A conceptual framework on networking perspectives in internationalisation, which has the potential to contribute towards achieving internationalisation goals and the enhancing quality of higher education is proposed.

Future of the global south: some critical foreign policy considerations

Economic downturn, recession of plans and initiatives, systematically ignored calls for a fiscal and monetary justice for all, €-crisis, Brexit and irredentism in the UK, Spain, Belgium, France, Denmark and Italy, lasting instability in the Euro-Med theatre (debt crisis of the Europe’s south – countries scrutinized and ridiculed under the nickname PIGS, coupled with the failed states all over the MENA), terrorism, historic low with Russia along with a historic trans-Atlantic blow with Trump, influx of predominantly Muslim refugees from Levant in numbers and configurations unprecedented since the WWII exoduses, consequential growth of far-right parties who – by peddling reductive messages and comparisons – are exploiting fears of otherness, that are now amplified with already urging labour and social justice concerns, generational unemployment and socio-cultural anxieties, in ricochet of the Sino-US trade wars, while rifting in a dilemma to either let Bolivarism or support Monroeism. The very fundaments of Europe are shaking. Strikingly, there is a very little public debate enhanced in Europe about it. What is even more worrying is the fact that any self-assessing questioning of Europe’s involvement and past policies in the Middle East, and Europe’s East is off-agenda. Immaculacy of Brussels and the Atlantic-Central Europe-led EU is unquestionable. Corresponding with realities or complying with a dogma?

‘New Regionalism’: ASEAN – RoK partnership in socio-cultural and education exchanges

ASEAN and South Korea have achieved substantial progress in political and economic relationship since 1989, when they first established a dialogue partnership. In 2010, their relationship further developed into a ‘Strategic Partnership in Peace and Prosperity’. ASEAN and South Korea share a common interest in promoting peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and beyond. ‘New regionalism’ theory has become current interest in regionalism and is undoubtedly one of the important trends in contemporary international relations. This theory focuses more on ‘deep integration’ between countries. ASEAN and South Korea emerged from the same root of colonization and escalated to become the second largest trading partner with its relationship thriving in tourism and educational sector. In this study, I focus on the development of ‘new regionalism’ in ASEAN and Republic of South Korea partnership as well as their regional integration efforts in the area of socio-culture and education. The study contributes to the existing knowledge of regionalism between ASEAN-Korea; the mutual relationship which emerged from economic and political-security into the area of socio-culture and education.

Promotion of human rights by providing equal employment opportunities for the disadvantaged workers in ASEAN

The promotion and protection of human rights is a key political principle of ASEAN and the ASEAN member states have made efforts to safeguard human rights and freedom of all ASEAN citizens, including the disadvantaged workers. This paper examines the ASEAN countries’ commitment and labour policy to promote equal employment opportunities for women, the elderly and persons with disabilities. The findings of this study would provide better insights to the issues of human rights in the labour market among ASEAN countries. It can serve as a resource for researchers, practitioners and policymakers for policymaking in ensuring that disadvantaged workers are not excluded from being able to fully enjoy their right to work as their participation in the labour market could in turn be one of the solutions to reduce high unemployment rate suffered in some ASEAN countries.