ASEAN and Regional Security
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something, however, on which no firm consensus has been arrived at among the six parties. Several things could be done to invigorate the ARF and make it more effective. As noted above, one way is favoured by a number of ARF participants, and that is for the ARF to go into the preventive-diplomacy phase but apply it to the so-called “non-traditional” security threats. The ministerial meetings should focus on only one or two subjects with a view to deeper and more thorough discussions and, if possible, specific outcomes and collective decisions. This would mean that ASEAN, as chair and “driver” of the ARF process, has to do a better job of agenda setting and, in general, of intellectual leadership of the forum. Here, the ASEAN Secretariat, with a strengthened ARF Unit, could help the ARF chair and its “friends” develop, with clarity and depth, the agenda for each ministerial meeting. The chair should then seek to keep the discussions within the bounds of the agenda instead of allowing it to sprawl in all directions. It would also help if the occasion of the annual ARF ministerial meeting could provide a public platform for the foreign ministers most substantially concerned with the subject or subjects of the year to discuss his or her country’s views and positions for the benefit of the media and the public. Hitherto, ARF discussions have been conducted behind closed doors. It would improve public understanding of the security issues of the day and raise public awareness of the ARF itself if some of those discussions were brought out into the open. There have also been suggestions for the periodic holding of ARF summit meetings. ASEAN has given special importance and focus to its engagement with its neighbours in Northeast Asia — China, Japan and South Korea — through the ASEAN Plus Three