Overview
Preventive diplomacy is one of the three evolutionary stages of the ARF’s confidence building measures. The ARF agreed on the ARF Concept and Principles of Preventive Diplomacy in 2001, which among others stipulated the definition, possible measures, and key principles of preventive diplomacy.
It was agreed that preventive diplomacy is a “consensual diplomatic and political action taken by sovereign states with the consent of all directly involved parties to help prevent disputes and conflicts from arising between states that could potentially pose a threat to regional peace and stability, to help prevent such disputes and conflicts from escalating into armed confrontation, and to help minimize the impact of such disputes and conflicts in the region. The ARF agreed that the definition, concept and principles of preventive diplomacy are not legal obligation.”
In light of this, preventive diplomacy measures could include efforts to build mutual trust and confidence between states, norms building, enhancing channels of communication to advance information-sharing, provide early warning and facilitate dialogue, and the ARF Chair to play a role as determined by the ARF participants.
Priority Areas of Cooperation
Eight key principles that guide the practice of ARF preventive diplomacy are:
- reliance on diplomatic and peaceful methods;
- non-coercive;
- timeliness;
- trust and confidence;
- operates on the basis of consultation and consensus;
- voluntary;
- applies to conflict between and among States;
- to be conducted in accordance with universally recognized basic principles of international law and inter-state relations.
To further pave the way for the ARF to reach a higher level of cooperation as well as to become a more “action-oriented” forum, the ARF in 2011 adopted the ARF Work Plan on Preventive Diplomacy.
Major Sectoral Bodies/Committees
The ASEAN Regional Forum was established in 1994 and consists of 27 Participants, namely: Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, United States, and Viet Nam.
In undertaking its work, the ARF Ministers meet on an annual basis and are assisted by the ARF Senior Officials’ Meeting (ARF SOM) and several working-group level meetings on each areas of cooperation.
The work of the ARF is guided by the ARF Vision Statement adopted in 2009. To move the ARF process forward, the ARF Ministers adopted the Hanoi Plan of Action to Implement the ARF Vision Statement (HPOA) in 2010 and upon the end of tenure of the HPOA 2010, the ARF in 2020, adopted the ARF HPOA II (2020- 2025). The document contains policy guidance for the ARF to develop and implement concrete and practical actions under its areas of cooperation. The framework of the ARF is focused on the following areas of cooperation as identified in the HPOA II:
- Disaster Relief;
- Counter-Terrorism & Transnational Crime;
- Maritime Security;
- Non-Proliferation and Disarmament;
- ICTs Security,
- Defence Cooperation,
- Peacekeeping, and
- Confidence Building Measures and Preventive Diplomacy.
For more information, please visit the ARF website at http://aseanregionalforum.asean.org/
Key Documents
Documents on Preventive Diplomacy which are accessible by the public can be found at the following link: http://aseanregionalforum.asean.org/librarycat/preventive-diplomacy/
The documents include:
- ARF Concept Paper on Preventive Diplomacy
- Concept Paper on Moving Towards Preventive Diplomacy
- ARF Work Plan on Preventive Diplomacy
Publications and Related Links to The Sector
Joint Study in Best Practices and Lessons Learned in Preventive Diplomacy (http://aseanregionalforum.asean.org/librarycat/arf-projects-and-studies/)
