RSIS Monograph No. 4

Since its establishment in 1994, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) has had to face a number of challenges in promoting multilateral security co-operation in the Asia-Pacific region. In the current setting, two major challenges stand out. The first is the slow progress of the ARF’s confidence-building and preventive diplomacy agenda. The second is the resurgence of bilateral and unilateral approaches to strategic affairs. Against these challenges, the relevance of multilatralism in the region is being questioned.