Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's trip to the United States next week looks set to warm bilateral ties, after a cooling out given Kuala Lumpur's criticism of unbridled capitalism and American unilateralism in recent years.

US President George W Bush is expected to welcome Mahathir when he arrives at the White House for a visit from May 12-14 — a dramatic turnaround in ties since the Sept 11 attacks and a far cry from the mood four years ago.

While economic and foreign policy and human rights might have been among the key issues in the past, the political landscape after Sept 11 has not left US-Malaysia ties unaffected.

For instance, while the United States had been critical of the Malaysian government's use of the Internal Security Act (ISA) to clamp down on dissenters, human rights is unlikely to be high on the agenda of Bush's meetings with Mahathir.

"The main issue on the table will be the terrorism issue," predicts political scientist Johan Saravanamuttu.

What has made the United States embrace ties with Malaysia is probably Mahathir's hardline stance in dealing with suspected local Muslim ''militants'' and the perception of him as a moderate Islamic leader.

Crackdown on Muslim militants

The Mahathir administration has detained more than 60 Muslims allegedly belonging to the so-called Malaysian Militants Group (KMM) since the middle of last year.

Their detention under the ISA — which allows people to be held in custody without trial — brings the total number of Malaysians under ISA detention to some 100.

Indeed, Kuala Lumpur's statements in recent months have indicated that the ISA is a handy tool in fighting terrorism.

In any case, some note that Malaysia's response after the Sept 11 attacks have so far brought him political benefits at home.

''Dr Mahathir's politically correct response to the Sept 11 attacks and his arrest of Islamic militants (long before the September incidents) have bolstered his political standing among the non-Muslims and the moderate Malays,'' Abdullah Ahmad, the group editor-in-chief of the pro-establishment New Straits Times newspaper, said in a comment piece.

''He appears to have regained middle-Malaysia. All this has not gone unnoticed by Washington's power-elite and the European Union, and our neighbours,'' he added.

Many of today's security concerns — and political relations — are shaped by a security environment that has changed so that the United States has a much bigger profile in the region than before Sept 11.

The Mahathir-Bush meeting, Johan notes, comes at a time when some 4,000 US troops are in the Philippines — the most number of American personnel involved in military action in East Asia since the Vietnam War.

Johan says progressive groups in the Philippines and the region are unhappy about the US involvement, ''but the post-Sept 11 political climate has made many people very acquiescent towards such involvement''.

Economic issues

But certainly, a dose of Mahathir's international lobbying on what Kuala Lumpur considers key issues — the Israeli-Palestinian crisis and the roots of Arab and Muslim disenchantment with the West — is bound to come.

''Mahathir will also want to throw in the economic issues, as he has been pushing for reforms to the global financial architecture,'' suggests Johan. Malaysia has been a key proponent of reforms in a system that it feels is shaped too heavily by footloose capital and too few controls by developing countries.

As the shock of the Asian financial crisis filtered through in 1998, Mahathir shunned intervention by the International Monetary Fund, differing from its East Asian neighbours who received billions of dollars in bailout funds.

It imposed capital and exchange controls on Sept 1 of that year, causing concern among Western financial institutions.

Washington would also be keen on meeting Mahathir because Malaysia will have a higher profile in the international scene.

Mahathir will be chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) beginning next year. And for the first time, Malaysia will host the OIC summit next year.

Then there is the role played by his special adviser, UN special envoy Razali Ismail, who was instrumental in securing the release of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest on May 6. That development was hailed by Mahathir as revealing ''progress'' and ''common sense'' on both sides.

Not impressed

But not everyone is impressed. It is now Mahathir's turn to show ''progress'' in the field of democracy and human rights as well as ''good sense,'' says Lim Kit Siang, chairman of the opposition Democratic Action Party.

''He should release the six 'reformasi' activists before he leaves for his meeting with Bush to show that it is not only Burma but also Malaysia which is serious about democratisation in Southeast Asia,'' he pointed out.

Lim was referring to six activists who continue to be held under ISA. Several are leaders of the political party of Anwar Ibrahim, Mahathir's former deputy who was arrested for corruption and other charges in September 1998 in what Anwar says was a conspiracy against him.

As Johan sees it, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) group is the most important in Malaysia's foreign policy, followed by East Asia. The third concentric circle in Malaysia's external relations is ties with the Islamic nations and other developing countries that Mahathir has personally cultivated.

''The United States is not in any of these circles but, as the main superpower, it is seen as a nation that Malaysia has to deal with,'' notes Johan.

Economic concerns are also high up on Malaysia's list, since it is feeling the effects of dwindling foreign investment. The United States is Malaysia's biggest source of foreign direct investment. Malaysia is also the US' 11th largest trading partner, and its 17th largest export market.

Malaysia is using its strategic partnerships in the South to get the most out of its relations with the North, observes Johan, with Mahathir positioning himself as a spokesman for the developing world.

It is a relationship both Washington and Malaysia hope to benefit from, setting aside past positions — critics say a bit too conveniently — in the name of the US 'war against terrorism'.

As NST 's Abdullah Ahmad remarked, Mahathir's visit to Washington is a new milestone in ties, ''a clear shift in their priorities prompted by realpolitik''.