ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on 'precursory' statecraft and perceived power (PP), exploring them in relation to statistically indisputable contemporary middle powers (MPs). By looking at the precedents to the contemporary statecraft and PP of MPs, a greater understanding of their behaviour is envisioned. Precursory statecraft and PP are found in the ancestral states of Indonesia and Malaysia. The chapter considers what Indonesia and Malaysia's statecraft and PP is in regard to them being statistical MPs and, further, what this means for the concept MP. It shows the history of Indonesian and Malaysian statecraft and PP, and thus of what constitute the history of MPs and their precursory and ancestral statecraft and PP. It explores the indigenous Animism and the process of hybridisation. By looking at the history of statistical MPs and comparing attributes common to both, the chapter reveals precursory MP statecraft and PP.
