Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirement of the PhD in International Relations The Kinship Factor in International Relations: Kinship, Identity Construction, and Nation Formation in Indonesia- Malaysia Relations Joseph Chinyong LIOW Department of International Relations London School of Economics and Political Science University of London 2003 1 UMI Number: U183176 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U183176 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ABSTRACT This thesis addresses the question of why the kinship factor has not been able to provide a viable basis upon which Indonesia-Malaysia relations can be organised, despite the fact that the language of kinship continues to frame diplomatic discourse between the two “kin states”. As a study of the phenomenon of kinship in international relations, the thesis discusses the basis of kinship discourse in Indonesia-Malaysia relations, how kinship was politicised in terms of its conceptualisation and application, and why its dominant motif has been rivalry more than harmony, despite its regular evocation. In order to understand the kinship factor as a political phenomenon in Indonesia-Malaysia relations, four issues are considered: (1) the anthropological and sociological nature of kinship, (2) the politicisation of kinship in terms of the perception and interpretation of its attendant expectations and obligations, (3) the association of the kinship factor with the historical process of identity building and nation formation in Indonesia and Malaysia, and (4) the discrepancies between popular pressures to emphasise kinship, which imply extra-national loyalties, and the political calculations of leaders based on conceptions of sovereignty. Consequently, the study makes the observation that despite the fact that there is a basis upon which to define Indonesia and Malaysia as kin states, their “special relationship” has been characterised predominantly by tension. It argues that this state of affairs has been a consequence of the perceived failure of these kin states to fulfil the expectations and obligations of kinship. This, in turn, has been bome of fundamental differences in their respective historical experiences and the forging of their national identities, which contravened the loyalties wrought by the kinship factor. Having said that, there remain avenues for co-identification on the basis of kinship, particularly in reference to the influence of the “Chinese factor” that has traditionally been a cause for concern for the national identities and security of Indonesia and Malaysia. 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgements............................................................................................ 6 G lossary ...............................................................................................................8 List of Abbreviations........................................................................................ 9 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 11 I. Locating kinship in the IR research agenda ..........................................12 II. Methodological and epistemological issues ...........................................17 El. An “English School” approach to understanding kinship relations.....................................................................................................21 IV. Kinship and Indonesia-Malaysia political relations ............................. 26 V. Thesis structure ......................................................................................... 31 Chapter One: The Kinship Factor in International Relations Introduction...........................................................................................................36 I. Defining kinship: A matter of blood or obligation? ............................. 37 n. Kinship as a functional aspect of relatedness .......................................41 in. Kinship exclusivity ..................................................................................44 IV. The politics of nationalism and beyond ................................................45 V. The concept of kin states ..........................................................................48 VI. Kinship as a factor in international relations........................................50 VII. The phenomenon of “kin rivalry” ........................................................... 54 Vin. Theoretical implications ......................................................................... 58 Conclusion............................................................................................................ 64 Chapter Two: The Search for Kinship Precedents in Indo-Malay Historiography Introduction...........................................................................................................66 I. Kinship in the pre-colonial international system ................................. 67 II. Concepts o f community and statehood ...................................................69 III. Constructing relatedness: Language ......................................................73 IV. Religion ...................................................................................................... 75 V. Rivalry and discord in the Indo-Malay W orld .......................................79 VI. Colonialism................................................................................................82 VII. Bridging identities: Semenanjung Melayu............................................. 84 VIII. Kinship as colonial sociological enterprise ........................................... 88 IX. Constructing pan-Malay identity ........................................................... 92 X. Kinship and the perceptual gap ................................................................ 98 Concluding remarks.............................................................................................103 Chapter Three: A Tale of Two Nationalisms Introduction...........................................................................................................106 I. Converging nationalist motivations: The emergence of modernist Islam ........................................................106 II. Socialist and nationalist interpretations of Melayu Raya-Indonesia R a ya.................................................................109 3 III. Japanese occupation ............................................................................ :...112 IV. Consolidating the Indonesian nation .......................................................116 V. Malay reactions to the revolution ............................................................122 VI. Contested identities ...................................................................................124 VII. Popular pressures ...................................................................................... 134 Concluding remarks...............................................................................................135 Chapter Four: 1949-1965: Enemies Beneath the Skin Introduction............................................................................................................142 I. The shaping g of foreign policy outlooks ...............................................142 n. Indonesia-Malaya Treaty of Friendship, 17 April 1959 ..................... 149 IE. PRRI/Pemesta Rebellion.......................................................................... 153 IV. West Irian ...................................................................................................159 V. Konfrontasi................................................................................................ 169 VI. Maphilindo: Illusion or reality? ...............................................................174 Concluding rem arks..............................................................................................180 Chapter Five: 1967-1980: Re-building the “Special Relationship” Introduction............................................................................................................184 I. Transformation in foreign policy prerogatives ...................................... 186 E. A SE A N .......................................................................................................191 IE. Malaysia’s Indonesia policy in transition ...............................................193 IV. 13 May and the resurgence of the “Chinese” issue ............................... 195 V. Indonesia’s Archipelago doctrine ........................................................... 200 VI. Neutralisation and ZOPFAN ................................................................... 208 VR Relations with China ................................................................................ 212 VEI. From Razak to Hussein Onn....................................................................214