While it has been correctly pointed out that the United States never left Southeast Asia, it did take over a decade and a turn of the century before a US Secretary of State returned to Malaysia for a bilateral visit. In her first trip to Malaysia from November 1-3, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reached out to Malaysia with a multi-pronged approach of engaging government, the business community, and civil society on a range of issues including trade, non-proliferation, technology, and education. Clinton's trip not only marked a continuation of the positive trajectory of US-Malaysia relations since President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak respectively took office, but also held open the promise of an expanded partnership in the long run. Elina Noor discusses the highlights of Secretary Clinton's trip to Malaysia.

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