of September 11, 2001, Singapore has moved even closer toward a “long-term realignment” with the United States. Although still eschewing a formal alliance, at the end of 2005, the two countries signed a new strategic framework agreement that expands bilateral cooperation in counter terrorism, counter proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, joint military exercises and training, policy dialogues, and defense technology. This agreement will significantly tighten the bilateral security partnership by giving Singapore more access to U.S. military technology, and by raising interchangeability between the two armed forces. Singapore has tied itself more closely to the United States because it identifies with the common threat of terrorism, but Singapore’s leaders also want to use this relationship to help anchor the United States in the region as a counterweight against the longer-term uncertainties over China.