Mahathirism Mahathirisme
Leader	Mahathir Mohamad
Founder	Mahathir Mohamad
Ideology	Antisemitism Anti-LGBT Malay supremacy Malay nationalism Nationalism[1][2][3] Populism[1] Nativism[2] Communitarianism[4] Pragmatism[5] Authoritarianneoliberalism[6] Capitalism[1][3][7] Authoritarianism[1][8] Anti-royalism[9] Third-Worldism[10] Pro-Asian Values[10] Pro-Globalization[10] Anti-neoliberalism[10][11] Islamic political views[10] Islamic fundamentalism Liberal Muslim Values[12]
Religion	Islam[1]

Mahathir Mohamad, the 4th and 7thprime minister of Malaysia's political views have shifted during his lengthy career. Support for "Asian values,"liberal Islam andMalay nationalism have long been part of Mahathir's political ideals. He has long been a critic of theforeign policy of the United States and otherWestern nations.Mahathirism has had an influence over subsequent Malaysian administrations.^[13]

During the 1980s, he was a supporter ofThird-Worldism, while during other periods he has been a proponent of "Asian values" andglobalization.^[10]

Mahathir is a vocal critic ofneoliberalism^[10] and the Western world.^[14][15] In 2011, Mahathir suggested that theSeptember 11 attacks might have beenstaged by the United States government.^[16][17] Mahathir condemned theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights in 1997, suggesting it be revised to place greater importance on economic growth overcivil liberties.^[18]

AMuslim thinker, he holdsIslamic political views.^[10] In 2002, he characterised himself as anIslamic fundamentalist. Mahathir is generally respected in developing andIslamic countries,^[15] particularly due to his oversight of Malaysia's economic growth and his support ofliberal Muslim values.^[12]

He has been described asanti-royalist byLibération, owing to his efforts to opposeimmunity for members ofMalaysia's monarchies.^[9]

Mahathir has been described as a proponent ofMalay nationalism.^[10] InThe Malay Dilemma, he argued that theMalay race had been marginalised, and voiced his support foraffirmative action policies for them.^[19] Upon his first resignation, he expressed his disappointment at the progress made towards his "principle task" of supporting the Malay race.^[19] In 2021, Mahathir said he did not believe in "Ketuanan Melayu", calling it a "fantasy", and said instead that he believed in "Bangsa Malaysia".^[20]

Mahathir has advocated for a balance betweenenvironmental protection andnatural resource use for economic growth.^[21] He referred to the outcomes of theEarth Summit as "eco-imperialism", arguing thatGlobal North countries put an undue burden on Global South countries forenvironmental degradation.^[22] In response to international scrutiny, he said in 2019 that linkingpalm oil production todeforestation was "baseless, unfair and unjustified" and that theMalaysian palm oil sector had developed sustainably.^[23]

A stridentcritic of Israel, Mahathir has been accused ofantisemitism throughout his political life.^[25][14] InThe Malay Dilemma, he wrote that "Jews are not merelyhook-nosed, but understand money instinctively".^[26] In August 1983, Mahathir claimed in a speech thatJews control the international media.^[27] In March 1994, he banned the screening ofSchindler's List on the grounds that he viewed it as anti-German, pro-Jewish propaganda.^[27] During the collapse of theringgit and theeconomic crisis in 1997, he made a series of remarks blaming Jews, in particularGeorge Soros, a Jewish "agenda", and "aninternational Jewish conspiracy" attempting to destroy the economies of Muslim countries.^[27][28][29]

During anOrganization of Islamic Cooperation summit held inKuala Lumpur in 2003, he accused Jews of "ruling the world by proxy" and getting "others to fight and die for them".^[30][31] His speech was denounced by PresidentGeorge W. Bush.^[32] In 2012, he claimed he was "glad to be labelled antisemitic".^[33] In a 2018 BBC interview he repeated similar statements, as well as disputing the number of Jews killed inthe Holocaust.^[34] In 2019, when asked why he had previously claimed that Jews are "inclined towards money", he responded that he had Jewish friends, and that "they are not like the other Jews, that's why they are my friends."^[35] Mahathir has defended his comments about Jews as an exercise offree speech, and by claiming that "the Jews do a lot of wrong things which force us to pass comment."^[36][37][38]

Mahathir opposes an expansion ofLGBT rights in Malaysia.^[39][40] In 2001, Mahathir said that any homosexual ministers from the United Kingdom would be barred from entering Malaysia.^[41] During an October 2018 lecture to university students inBangkok, Mahathir contrasted Malaysian values with those of Western nations and cited "the institution of marriage [and] the family" in his opposition to LGBT rights.^[39]

In 2020, Mahathir expressed support forJoe Biden in the2020 United States presidential election, saying that the re-election ofDonald Trump would be a "disaster".^[42]

In a July 2025 interview withAl Jazeera, Mahathir said that Israel's killing of thePalestinian people during theGaza war would be remembered for "centuries", and described it as agenocide that paralleled the Holocaust and thekilling of Muslims during theBosnian War. He also expressed support for atwo-state solution in theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict.^[43]

• What is Mahathirism? atMalaysiakini

• Mahathir Mohamad
• Political positions of politicians
• Conservatism in Malaysia
• Politics of Malaysia
• Malaysian nationalism
• Islamism in Malaysia

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