This study examines how siriah ka sidang, a customary conflict resolution mechanism practised by the indigenous community of Nagari Pasia Laweh, West Sumatra, contributes to ecological sustainability, social cohesion, and culturally legitimate justice. It addresses two questions: (1) How is siriah ka sidang practised? and (2) How does it influence forest governance, the preservation of ecological knowledge, and the reduction of long-term conflicts? A descriptive qualitative approach was employed, with data collected through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs), and participatory observation conducted between June 2025 and May 2026. The findings identify three key principles. First, hearings are convened only after community members submit reports supported by sufficient evidence of customary law violations. Second, proceedings take place only when both parties voluntarily agree to participate, fulfil the required procedures, and accept the final decision. Third, the mechanism prioritises reconciliation, collective responsibility, and environmental stewardship rather than punishment, thereby supporting sustainable forest governance, preserving ecological knowledge, and preventing long-term conflicts. This study concludes that siriah ka sidang reflects the principles of the green economy and exemplifies embedded ecological governance, in which ecological management is rooted in cultural values, customary institutions, local beliefs, and community relationships while promoting a restorative model of justice perceived as more legitimate and effective than alternative dispute-resolution mechanisms.
Between 1975 and 1979, the strategic triangle involving Vietnam, China, and the Soviet Union (USSR) underwent a profound transformation that culminated in the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese border war. This study revisits that transformation by positioning the USSR not merely as a contextual backdrop but as a decisive source of structural power shaping both Vietnam’s strategic alignment and China’s threat perceptions. While existing scholarship has largely emphasised Chinese and Vietnamese motivations, this study places the Soviet dimension at the analytical centre as an independent variable. Integrating structural realism with strategic cognition, this study conceptualises structural power not simply as material capability but as the capacity to generate strategic effects through alliances, institutional linkages, and access arrangements that shape perceptions and expectations. Methodologically, this study draws on qualitative analysis of declassified archives, diplomatic correspondence, and contemporaneous Vietnamese, Soviet, Chinese, and Western sources. The findings suggest that although the USSR did not directly instigate the 1979 conflict, its strategic posture—symbolised by the 1978 Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation and access arrangements at Cam Ranh Bay—significantly intensified Beijing’s perception of strategic encirclement. Vietnamese official discourse generally interpreted Soviet commitments as political and strategic reassurance. Moscow, however, continued to employ deliberately ambiguous signalling. Here, ambiguity is understood as a strategic choice rather than a communication failure, contributing to widening gaps in strategic expectations within the triangle. This asymmetry of interpretation weakened deterrent stability and contributed to regional instability in late Cold War Southeast Asia.
Corruption remains a central concern in bureaucratic and political research. Traditionally, scholarship has focused predominantly on corruption’s economic and legal dimensions. This study asks how cultural norms interact with institutional frameworks to sustain or resist corruption in Malaysia’s civil service. It proceeds from two core propositions: first, that institutions actively shape cultural attitudes towards corruption; and second, that pre-existing cultural norms influence how institutions tolerate or reject corrupt practices. While new institutional theory (NIT) has been extensively applied in global corruption studies, its application in the Malaysian context, particularly to understand how culture sustains corruption within the civil service, remains limited. This study addresses this gap by analysing qualitative data from sixteen in-depth interviews with public officials and policy experts. Findings reveal that corruption in Malaysia often transcends simple rule-breaking, instead it becomes embedded in cultural logics of reciprocity, survival, and social obligation. This study highlights one of the first systematic applications of NIT to Malaysia’s civil service by positioning cultural norms as co-productive with formal institutions to bridge the gap between predominantly legal-economic explanations and culturally grounded interpretations. This study posits that recognising the dual influence of formal and informal institutions is essential for designing reforms that are not only legally robust but also culturally resonant.
This study analyses the influence of fiscal federalism on Sabah’s financial autonomy within Malaysia’s federal framework, using dependency theory as a perspective. The study examines how Malaysia’s centralised fiscal structure establishes a core-periphery dynamic that diminishes Sabah’s financial autonomy and developmental prospects. Despite constitutional guarantees under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), Sabah struggles to generate revenue and manage its resources. This is especially true when it comes to oil revenues, as it receives only 5% of Malaysia’s total oil production despite contributing about 25% of the country’s output. The research examines three key facets: Sabah’s historical integration into Malaysia, the duties of MA63, and the development of intergovernmental budgetary arrangements. The research illustrates how structural dependencies sustain Sabah’s fiscal limitations through comparative analysis with other federal systems and the application of dependency theory. This study advocates for extensive reforms, encompassing: the renegotiation of revenue-sharing formulae, augmentation of state-level taxing authority, implementation of transparent equalisation methods, and the establishment of independent fiscal commissions. These ideas seek to disrupt the cycle of dependency and create a fairer budgetary relationship between federal and state governments that honours the essence of MA63 and fosters sustainable development in Sabah.
Contributing to the debate on Taiwan’s defence build-up and scholarship on military change, this study explores cultural factors in the military and across society that shape defence reforms in Taiwan in the 2020s. Drawing on data from official documents, secondary literature, and twelve elite interviews with actors in the Taiwanese security sector, this study explores reforms to the force structure since 2022, the shift to an asymmetric warfare strategy, and efforts to build a whole-of-society defence. The findings show that the force structure and mobilisation reforms are limited by a military culture that undervalues conscripts and reserves, valuing stable routines. The reforms are also limited by the structure of civil-military relations. The reforms towards an asymmetric warfare strategy have been limited by resistance to unconventional methods of warfare, the Ministry of National Defence’s wish to safeguard its monopoly over the armed forces, and by the existing command culture and procurement priorities linked to the different services. Lastly, reforms towards whole-of-society defence take place in the context of a historical devaluation of civil defence, institutional resistance from the Ministry of National Defence to share defence with civilian agencies, and military and political suspicion of trained civilians. However, the findings showed that changes in threat perceptions and practical training experiences have mobilised civilians and increased acceptance of civil preparedness. By indicating how cultural factors intersect and make change more or less likely, the findings have implications for scholarship on cultural factors behind military change, for debates on Taiwan’s defence build-up, and for Taiwan’s defence.
