Will Indonesia's idea for an Asian peace treaty fly?

Everyone else in East Asia knows how to behave - with practised disdain for those around them. China hates Japan. Vietnam hates China. Everybody hates North Korea. North Korea hates everybody. Basically, we all know where we stand.

Indonesia used to play by the same rules: the cornerstone of its foreign policy was once the "Crush Malaysia" campaign. But those days are long gone. Now Jakarta goes its own way, calling for peace, of all things - not just in East Asia, but across the entire Indo-Pacific region (which also includes India and Pakistan, and they really hate each other).

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa recently called specifically for a new "Indo-Pacific-wide treaty of friendship and co-operation", which he says is needed to arrest "the all-too-familiar vicious cycle of tensions" the region finds itself trapped in.

He has a point. Asia is becoming freer, wealthier and more interconnected - but not friendlier. Marty is right about the need for a new treaty, because the agreements and associations we have aren't working.

And if anyone can make such a treaty fly, it's Indonesia. The region's other big players - especially China, Japan and the US - carry too much baggage; any proposals they make are received with suspicion. Indonesia, by contrast, has become the acceptable face of developing Asia: newly democratised, avowedly non-aligned, no longer intent on crushing anyone, and yet big enough to make a difference. So maybe Indonesia can make this treaty happen.

Unfortunately, liking Indonesia isn't the issue - the snag is everyone's dislike of everyone else. Marty says there are three problems that the new treaty needs to fix: the "trust deficit" between Asian states; unresolved territorial disputes; and managing change in the region.