Comprehensive Defence as a Concept the Defence White Paper Whole-of-Government Approaches

Abstract

In this century, security threats to the country are influenced by the complex and volatile geostrategic environment of international and regional security landscape. The government, through the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces, is responsible for ensuring that sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national security are always protected and continue to be preserved. The Defence White Paper has proven the country's collective commitment to the national aspiration to make Malaysia safe, sovereign, and prosperous. The objective of this study is to analyse the concept of comprehensive defence, the whole-of-government approaches as alluded by the defence white paper. As a comprehensive national defence long-term plan document, the DWP also contains a statement of the government's intentions and efforts to ensure the country's integrity, sovereignty, and security remains strong. For example, through the Whole of Government and Whole of Society approach. The Security and Development Initiative and Total Defence (HANRUH) that have been introduced have helped a lot to curb the dominance of communist elements in the country. The Defence White Paper is developed using a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach that considers the involvement and views of all ministries and government agencies as well as the voices of all levels of society, including non-governmental organizations, defence industry players and Malaysian Armed Forces veterans. Engagement sessions with several strategic partner countries that have experience in developing DWP were also held. Next, five national defence objectives have been identified, namely the development of various domains of Malaysian Armed Forces capabilities, enhancing Malaysia's internal resilience through a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, strengthening defence cooperation, development of the defence industry as an economic catalyst, and institutionalization of good governance practices.