When prominent US senators start popping up in Laos, you know something is up.
Landlocked between its giant neighbours, China, Thailand and Vietnam, and home to fewer than seven million people, Southeast Asia's sleepiest state rarely surfaces in the headlines, and certainly not in Washington.
Yet the capital Vientiane was the first stop on the 11-day tour of the region by Jim Webb, whose visit to Myanmar this weekend is generating considerably more attention.
It was no accident. Senator Webb's Laotian interlude highlights broadening US policy trends under way in the region. Washington's attempts to re-engage under the administration of US President Barack Obama means they must play catch-up with China in some quarters, and Laos is a glaring example.
'It is vitally important that the United States re-engage with Southeast Asia at all levels,' Senator Webb said before meeting defence, investment and foreign ministry officials.
'Our relations with Laos have never been fully repaired since the end of the Vietnam war more than 30 years ago. I look forward to working with Lao officials in order to bring our two countries together economically, culturally and diplomatically.'
As a senator, Mr Webb does not speak directly for the Obama administration, but as a well-connected Democrat who heads a key Senate subcommittee on East Asia, he is influential and at least partly reflective of current Washington thinking.
