With the rise of ASEAN. a new and stronger regional identity has emerged with countries lying at the geographical perimeters of the region choosing not to be part of either India or China. ASEAN was reformed and expanded and includes all ten nation-states of now Southeast Asia, with as yet the exclusion of East Timor The rise of China has made closer cooperation between Southeast Asian countries necessary. To facilitate more productive relations with China, India, and Japan, closer cooperation between the Southeast Asian countries h also been necessary. In a post-colonial setting bilateral linkages between European countries and their former colonies have been becoming less relevant. At the same time nation-states in Southeast Asia are no longer contested, although at the periphery, major conflicts continue to prevail.