At the country level, the impetus for omni-enmeshment is evident in two types of activities. First is the smaller-scale, deliberate cultivation of multiple strategic relationships with major powers in the region by individual Southeast Asian states. This is a less developed and less coherent form of omni-enmeshment in which the smaller states are primarily concerned with diversifying their security partners and seeking cooperation with specific major powers because of shared intraregional security concerns. An example of the former case is Vietnam’s gradual development of defense cooperation, exchanges,and high-level visits with the United States, while maintaining its close ties with China, as well as pursuing defense exchanges with India, with which Vietnam experiences no historical or geographical constraints.44 An example of the latter case is Indonesia’s development of defense ties not only
with the United States and China but also with Australia. The two countries
signed a defense treaty in 1995, which was dissolved in 1999 because of
Australia’s participation in a military force against pro-Jakarta militias in the
former Indonesian province of East Timor after its violent split with Indonesia.
But in view of the continuing shared security issues surrounding terrorism,
humanitarian intervention, and perhaps with longer-term strategic hedging in
mind, the strategic relationship is being repaired, with the resumption of military
exercises in 2005 and the negotiation of a new security agreement in 2006.