[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Sea Demon

Yep. Bad choice of words on my part. I didn't intend to speak of any population size or land mass. Instead I should have used the term militarily insignificant.

Oh, I am quite aware of how you meant it. I was about something different. Indonesia's population is to 86% Muslims, at least formally, because theistic religion in form of Islam is their state religion and is formally dictated by law, but many are still practicing animism. Nevertheless, their population is quite young, and thus: hot. Exactly that kind of human material that fanatics and extremist prefer to use for their purposes. Asymmetrical warfare does not depend on military technology and numbers of ships and airplanes. What makes Indoensia a potential threat is not the size of the population, but the social dynamic of the current population structure. >If< Indonesia would for some reason start to behave like Iran - of what use would be a modern Navy for Australia, then? So far they are relatively tame - this does not mean they are harmless, or will always remain to be tame. China's rise may teach them the necessity of learning to bite.