The Reluctant Multilateralist—South East Asia, 1980–2000

Abstract

Historic connections with Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei from the colonial past gave Britain advantages over its EU partners. British companies held significant investments in all three, trade was important, and Britain successfully extricated itself from any meaningful security obligations in the region. But as the 1980s progressed, the UK would be drawn into security issues in South East Asia and face criticism and a scandal at home arising from its mishandling of its trade and development policy. By the mid-1990s it was on the back foot, reacting to events rather than trying to shape them. It was hampered in efforts to deal with the problem of Vietnamese ‘boat people’ in Hong Kong by its own reluctance to accept any for resettlement, but its hesitant approach was most apparent in its response to the rise of multilateral diplomacy. It was slow to recognise the significance of this and frequently lukewarm in its attitude towards regional multilateralism. Only after the turn of the century, with the expansion of the EU, did it begin to appreciate the increased influence it could bring to bear through a multilateral approach to relations.