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• Textmilitary developmentNational development...1 more

  The military as an integrating force in nation-building: The case of Malaysia

  The process of nation building in Malaysia started since its independence in 1957. The process of nation building involves the development of its members and communities, politically, economically and socially. This process of modernisation is not a mere and easy task to perform.
  
  Malaysia has since then prosper and is moving forward toward a fully developed nation by 2020. It has managed to attain an impressive economic growth of above 8% for the last one decade. All this achievement has not come easy. Malaysia faced various threats and challenges both internally and externally in developing its nation. Therefore the process of nation building is neither autonomous in its dynamics nor free to select at random its goals.
  
  Military in its professional entities is the provider of security and stability towards a nation. This condition is imperative in ensuring the economic growth and the process of nation building to proceed and developed. In this case the Malaysian Armed Forces has and will continue to contributes toward this process, especially with the future challenges which will be more complex in its dimensions.
• TextMilitaryNational development...1 more

  The military as an integrating force in nation-building

  The military is an instrument that plays important roles and functions both during war and in peace time. During war, the role of the military is clear; to defend against the enemy attack or to recapture fallen territory. In peace time, the military train for war and to create a picture that the potential enemy will have a second thought to attack the country it is serving. The latter role is not very clear to the general public or the politicians, as such misunderstanding exists among non-intellectuals as to the role the military plays in nation building. Is ensuring national security part of nation building? Does nation building and national security be planned and executed independantly?
  
  Many scholars agree that security plays an important part in any nation's development process. Military is the force that can ensure security beside the police force and other agencies of the Home Affairs Ministry. Security will stabilise the country and subsequently nation building will come.
  
  Presently all countries have some form of military forces to defend the nation-states. Defense of nation state is the subset of national security. From the security provided by the military, Malaysia has achieved enormous success, in terms of political stability, economic prosperity and social cohesion. Military will continue to provide service as long as it is needed so as to allow Malaysia to strive forward and achieve the vision of turning her into a developed nation. While it aspires to be a developed nation, Malaysia does not neglect the need for national security for it is the foundation on which peace and prosperity is built.
  However, Malaysia's emphasis on deterrence through diplomacy though politically justified, did not by itself provide the means to guarantee national integrity and the preservation of its sovereignty. For deterrence to be credible, it must not only be seen in physical form but also in the sustained will, resilience of its people and the ability to mobilize in shortest possible time its economic, social, psychological and military power of nation to meet a threat.