pluralistic and democratic malaysia. the country and its government has been thrust into the global spotlight. the stakes couldn't be much higher than simply figuring out what happened to flight 370. william dobson is with slate magazine and steve clemens is an msnbc contributor with the atlantic. i want to go to you first, william dobson. can you just describe to us the government of malaysia as it is now and what anwar ibrahim's relationship to it is? >> the first thing you need to understand about the malaysian government, what you're dealing with is a ruling party that has been in power continuously for 56 years. so this is the type of country which many would describe as a semi-authoritarian one. it's one in which you have elections, but not a lot of political change.