DEFENCE WHITE PAPER 19. Evaluating the ever-changing strategic environment. The current and ongoing changes at the global and regional levels call for a new round of strategic reassessment. Chapter 2: Strategic Outlook performs this task. 20. A continuous assessment of external conditions is crucial, as change is a constant reality in the international security ecosystem. Geographical circumstances, complex neighbourhood and relative military capabilities all have direct and indirect bearings on Malaysia’s national interests. 21. Geography is destiny. As a relatively small nation with two territories: Peninsular Malaysia, and Sabah and Sarawak, between the vast Pacific and Indian Oceans, Malaysia’s strategic location and natural resources have been both a blessing and a challenge. 22. Indeed, Malaysia’s history is, in many ways, a history of big power politics. It is a history of how the big powers of the day impacted the fate and fortune of the country. While bringing about opportunities for commercial and civilisational development, geography also drew unsolicited attention and exploitation from powerful actors for domination in the Malay Archipelago. 23. This recurring theme is well illustrated by the country’s historical timeline: the rise and fall of the Malacca Sultanate, the successive colonial rule by the Portuguese (1511-1641), the Dutch (1641-1795, 1818-1825) and then the British (1795-1818, 1826-1957), the changing shape of colonial Malaya after the 1824 Anglo-Dutch Treaty, the Japanese occupation (December 1941August 1945), the birth of the Federation of Malaya as a sovereign state (31 August 1957), followed by the creation of a larger federation when Malaya (Tanah Melayu) merged with other former British colonies of Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak formed an independent Malaysia (16 September 1963) at the height of the Cold War. 24. While different big powers have come and gone, the geopolitical challenges of the country remain. Although the present-day Malaysia is not directly threatened by any militarily stronger powers the same way as its predecessor polities experienced during the age of European colonisation and World War II, its interests have continued to be affected by the actions and interactions of the big powers of the contemporary era. 25. As a country with two separate territories, Malaysia currently faces not only the challenges of big power politics, but also a range of non-traditional security threats, as elaborated in Chapter 2: Strategic Outlook. 26. Due to the nation’s relative limitations in size and capacity, the Government has recognised the need to be proactive and pragmatic in coping with strategic risks. Continuous assessment of the security environment is a central part of this process. 27. The Government’s assessment on the security environment had at times resulted in adjustments or changes in its strategic planning. A reassessment in the 1980s had led to the transformation of the MAF from a counter-insurgency force to a more conventional one. It also contributed to a shift from a threat-based to a capability-based defence policy. A more recent evaluation has further recalibrated the policy into an interest-based approach. This is elaborated in Chapter 3: Defence Strategy and Chapter 4: Future Force. 13