ASEAN, as being on the very core of this matter, deserves close attention through the case of Timor-Leste for understanding international strategic inclusion-exclusion dynamics. The manuscript we provide tackles this case through a small country ‘in-between’ the core global actors of economic and political concern: Timor-Leste as a ground for grasping large-scale complexities in decision-making processes, as much as the micro-understanding and dynamics of a small country ‘within the game’ – if not even on the forefront.