ABSTRACT
When Sandy Berger, the former United States National Security Adviser, was asked about the importance of addressing the carnage in East Timor in September 1999, he likened it to the questionable need to direct his teenage daughter to clean up her room.1 While this, of course, was a diplomatic slip hastily repented, it does suggest some of the difficulties for Australia as a smaller country, geographically and economically remote, in creating greater presence in alliance relations. The teenage metaphor itself is also an apt one for Australia in the context of the East Timor crisis. One of the consequences of a slew of Australian political and diplomatic failures prior to its International Force East Timor (INTERFET) successes was the precipitation of tension in the alliance at the margins, and the more significant ultimate reliance on US power. As such, one of the legacies of East Timor has been the re-emphasis on Australia’s need for a potent ally.
