INDONESIAN President Suharto's visit to Burma this weekend sets the seal on the once-isolated regime's imminent entry into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Hosting the leader of the regional grouping's most powerful member is also likely to encourage Burma's military junta in its efforts to duplicate the Indonesian military's dominance of domestic politics.
Mr Suharto's stay underlines how the country's near neighbours are resisting the West's attempts to wring political concessions from the military regime in exchange for more international integration.
But for Rangoon's generals this is more than just a chance to deepen links with a regional power: it is an opportunity to absorb some of the techniques that Mr Suharto and his generals have used to keep a tight rein on all opposition while pushing the economy forward at a steady clip.
The only English-language newspaper allowed in Burma once dubbed the countries 'two nations with a common identity'.
The Rangoon junta has become an open admirer of the authoritarian rule that Mr Suharto has imposed since he overthrew his tempestuous predecessor Sukarno in 1966. Although the now-retired Burmese dictator General Ne Win ousted a short-lived democratic government four years earlier in 1962, the Army has conspicuously failed to match the Indonesian regime's economic success and legitimacy.