More than a decade after the fact, a claim has surfaced in Kuala Lumpur that touches one of the oldest anxieties in postcolonial politics: the suspicion that great powers quietly shape the destinies of smaller nations. PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang alleges that American embassy officials, during Barack Obama's 2014 visit to Malaysia, broached the possibility of helping his party displace the ruling government — an overture he says his party refused. The United States Embassy has responded with a categorical denial, insisting it has never sought to determine Malaysia's political leadership, le