Interaksi antara kleptokrasi, tawar-menawar perkhidmatan awam, dan penggubalan dasar pertahanan masih belum diterokai secara komprehensif dalam kajian literatur sedia ada. Maka, apabila kerajaan Malaysia di era Najib Razak memesatkan hubungan ketenteraan dengan China susulan skandal 1MDB, di sebalik tindak-tanduk China menuntut perairan Malaysia dan melakukan siri pencerobohan tentera laut ke dalam wilayah negara, telah memberikan peluang untuk menganalisis fenomena sedemikian. Objektif kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji taktik kleptokrat daripada perspektif tawar-menawar perkhidmatan awam dalam mengalihkan strategi ketenteraan pro-Barat Malaysia dengan tekanan yang dikenakan oleh Amerika Syarikat dan tarikan rasuah strategik yang dilakukan oleh China terhadap kepentingan kleptokratik Najib Razak. Melalui metodologi kualitatif menerusi temu bual bersama aktor-aktor penting dan data sekunder, dapatan kajian ini mendapati manipulasi tawar-menawar perkhidmatan awam ialah pembolehubah penting yang memberi kesan kepada dasar pertahanan kleptokrat. Kajian ini menyimpulkan bahawa usaha Najib menukar bentuk hubungan tawar-menawar perkhidmatan awam Malaysia daripada sistem pemegang amanah kepada sistem tawar-menawar kleptokratik telah membawa kepada pemesatan dasar pertahanan Malaysia terhadap China. Implikasi kajian ini cukup signifikan dalam memahami perubahan dasar pertahanan luar negeri dari perspektif tawar-menawar perkhidmatan awam.

Kata kunci: 1MDB; kleptokrasi; Najib Razak; pembuatan dasar pertahanan luar negeri; tawar-menawar perkhidmatan awam

Abstract: The interaction between kleptocracy, public service bargains, and defence policymaking has not yet been sufficiently explored in the existing literature. Therefore, when the Malaysian government during Najib Razak’s era intensified its defence policy towards China - despite Chinese claims to Malaysian waters and naval intrusions - Malaysia's move towards China in the aftermath of the 1MDB scandal presents an opportunity to analyse such a phenomenon. The objective of this research is to investigate the kleptocrat's tactics to shift Malaysia's pro-Western military strategy from public service bargains perspective by examining the pressures imposed by the US and the strategic corruption pull exerted by China on Prime Minister Najib Razak's kleptocratic interests. By adopting qualitative methodology through extensive interviews and secondary data, this study finds that the manipulation of public service bargains is a significant variable impacting the kleptocrat's defence policies. It concludes that Najib's efforts converted the traditional trustee-style of bargaining in Malaysia's defence decision-making process into a kleptocratic kind, allowing for a stronger relationship with China. This research implication is highly significant in understanding the defence policy change from public service bargains perspective.

Keywords: 1MDB; kleptocracy; Najib Razak; defence policymaking; public service bargains

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