Malaysia's entry into international affairs as the independent Federation of Malaya in 1957 marked the emergence of a uniquely new factor in Southeast Asian regional politics. However, by dint of an amazingly intuitive and constructive leadership from the very beginning, it became an attention-grabbing and daring player in the world at large within the following two decades. From the 1980s onwards it embarked upon a determined mission to stand up for the rights and natural justice of developing nations with a series of pioneering projects for peace and understanding in an increasingly unbalanced international order. Throughout, Malaysia has steadfastly maintained the defense of the United Nations Charter and regional cooperation as two of its foremost foreign policy goals. Thus, this essential record of its first fifty years in international diplomacy when, for the most part, Malaysia succeeded in punching well above its weight, is intended as a handy guide for the interested reader.