have the wherewithal, especially when it comes to followup at the national level, to translate words into actions, and has to turn to defence establishments and other institutions to implement some of its programmes. For example, the ARF’s maritime security agenda covers many maritime issues that fall under the purview of non-MFA sectors, including piracy, transport security against international terrorism, marine and aeronautical search and rescue, prevention of and response to offshore oil spill incidents, illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, marine environmental protection and conservation. The way forward for the ARF is to hive off operational security matters to the ADMM-Plus and relevant sectoral channels, and focus exclusively on strategic matters where its diplomatic strength and expertise could be utilised to better effect. This streamlining of ARF and ADMM-Plus foci and activities will minimise overlaps and avoid overstretching of the resources of the participants. Another model could see the ARF and ADMM-Plus joining forces. A prime candidate for such a collaboration is maritime security which is also a priority area under both the ARF and ADMM-Plus, and requires the involvement of diplomacy and security agencies such as the military. The ARF Inter-Sessional Meeting on Maritime Security and the ADMM-Plus Experts’ Working Group on Maritime Security could consider having an interface to work out a modality that enables cross-collaboration without diminishing each other’s identity and mandate. Such collaboration requires rounds of trial and error to find an institutional sweet spot that is comfortable to both. It could open the way for a joint ARF-ADMM-Plus mechanism on selected functional cooperation areas. An Wikimedia Commons THE ASEAN Regional Forum Disaster Relief Exercise (ARF DiREx) 2013 in Cha Am, Thailand added bonus of this idea is opening the door for ARF members who are not party to the ADMM-Plus members to engage the region’s military experts. The case for closer cooperation and synergy between the ARF and ADMM-Plus is self-evident considering that peace and security are only possible and achievable within an enabling eco-system fostered by a positive diplomaticpolitical climate and tangible security cooperation on the ground. This synergy has become all the more imperative in view of the increasingly uncertain geopolitical environment in the region. In fact, the ARF’s dialogue and consultation to reduce the growing strategic distrust and risks of unintended conflicts at sea must be accompanied by practical confidence-building measures that the defence track is focusing on, i.e. joint exercises and guidelines for maritime interactions. In other words, the ARF and ADMM-Plus are effectively two sides of the same coin. Each functions to make the region stable and secure but one cannot stand on its own effectively. The ARF has to reinvent itself and prove its relevance given that it no longer has the monopoly on regional security discussions as it did in 1993. The establishment of the ADMM in 2006 followed by the ADMM-Plus in 2010 meant that the lion’s share of functional security cooperation has shifted to these processes. For the ARF to remain relevant, it needs to sharpen its focus on broader strategic issues, and work towards creating synergies with the ADMM-Plus to ensure that diplomacy runs in tandem with security. Dr. Tang Siew Mun is Head of the ASEAN Studies Centre, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. 11 — ISSUE 5/2018