Abstract
This paper explores the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) and the ADMM Plus, focusing on ASEAN’s purpose to launch a meeting of defense ministers in terms of community building, the evolution of the ADMM with the ensuing establishment of its enlarged version – the ADMM Plus, and the significance of the ADMM Plus from a comparative perspective. A brief analysis of the approach taken by Japan toward this multilateral framework, as a long-time dialogue partner of ASEAN, is added to the conclusion. Generally, the ADMM and the ADMM Plus processes have so far developed steadily, materializing in an incremental way the original visions to promote institutionalization and practical cooperation. It is highly likely that the ADMM Plus will regularize the annual joint exercises in nontraditional security based on the system of rotational Expert Working Groups (EWGs). Activities in the ADMM (Plus) imply ASEAN’s strong will to differentiate the framework from the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which countries concerned have found to be ineffective for promoting conflict prevention and dealing with confrontational, sensitive issues of traditional security, like the South China Sea. Today, the participants in the ADMM Plus including Japan seem to fully recognize the utility of the platform. This is not only in terms of having a regular meeting venue of relevant defense ministers, but also fostering deeper cooperation of defense and security by conducting meetings at various levels of defense officials and joint exercises in nontraditional security areas. However, the participants in the multilateral framework are going to see some future challenges for the relevance of the mechanism, including territorial and maritime disputes.
Read the article here.