SPEECH BY DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM PRIME MINISTER OF MALAYSIA AT THE NIKKEI CONFERENCE ON THE FUTURE OF ASIA 10 June 2026 Tokyo, Japan

Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Allow me first to thank Nikkei for convening this significant gathering and for the honour of addressing such a distinguished audience.

Tokyo has long been a place where Asia comes to reflect on its future, and the Nikkei forum represents a key platform for geopolitical and geoeconomic discourse that is of consequence to the region.

Today, that conversation carries a special urgency, as we meet at a moment of profound disruption and uncertainty. But let us be clear, the uncertainty is strategic not because it has erupted overnight or even recently. In fact, it has been simmering for some time now.

This warrants an examination of the root causes. I daresay that among them is the fact that leaders have not really freed themselves of the old paradigm in geopolitics. It is one where the dictates of realpolitik and hegemonic considerations goad leaders to strive for power, constantly piling on their military and economic might in the name of strategic security.

The Cold War might have ended 35 years ago but, to be sure, history did not end with it. On the contrary, we are still held ransom to the classic zero-sum power dynamics where the strong continues to be invested in suppressing the weak. This is a formula for failure.