Malaysia-Indonesia Konfrontasi: The Struggle for Influence in the Middle East

Malaysia's non-alignment and pro-Arab policies can be traced back to Konfrontasi, Indonesia's challenge to the formation of Malaysia in 1963. Indonesia's reckless attempt to win the conflict through military action prompted a formal complaint from Malaysia to the United Nations. When African and Asian member in the Security Council expressed opposition to Indonesian aggression towards Malaysia, Indonesia sought support from the next largest sub-group in the Afro-Asian bloc, the Arab states. At first, Arab sympathies swayed towards Indonesia, persuaded by its misrepresentation of Malaysian policies towards Israel. Realising this, Malaysia adopted a pro-Arab and non-aligned position to win Arab support. By early 1964 non-alignment had become Malaysia's de facto foreign policy, although the policy was not formalised until 1970.