Revisiting the Defence White Paper: An Economic Perspective on Defence Capabilities
The National Resilience College was honoured to welcome YB Tuan Liew Chin Tong, Deputy Minister of Finance, for an eminent session on “Revisiting the Defence White Paper: An Economic Perspective on Defence Capabilities.” The talk offered a compelling strategic lens on defence planning as a matter of national prioritisation, linking capability development to fiscal realism, long-term sustainability, and the policy trade-offs shaping force structure, readiness, and modernisation in an era of tightening budgets and expanding security demands.
The session was particularly engaging for the quality of the exchanges, as course members examined how Malaysia can balance “must-have” capabilities with affordability, strengthen value for money in procurement, and align defence spending with broader national objectives such as resilience, innovation, and industrial development. In the Malaysian context, revisiting the Defence White Paper through an economic lens is critical because credible deterrence depends not only on strategy and doctrine, but on resource discipline, institutional coherence, and the state’s ability to sustain capability over time, turning defence policy into a durable, whole-of-government commitment rather than a short-term expenditure cycle.
