ABSTRACT
The seriousness of transnational security challenges has for years been readily emphasized by academics and decision makers, both as regards Southeast Asia and the wider Asia-Pacific region (e.g. Dupont 2001, Curley and Thomas 2004). As transnational security challenges by definition have a cross-border dimension and are therefore difficult to deal with by states on their own, regional arrangements have increasingly found themselves in the spotlight as regards their contribution to addressing these challenges. The role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in addressing contemporary transnational challenges has recently generated considerable academic interest (Imperial 2005, Sovannasam 2005, Emmers 2003a, Elliott 2007). However, little attention has focused on the ways in which the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) has responded to transnational challenges.2 This chapter addresses three questions to ascertain the ARF’s role in dealing with transnational challenges. First, which transnational challenges have actually made it on to the ARF’s agenda? Second, which of these have also been collectively securitized? Third, to what extent have ARF participants also pursued practical forms of security cooperation to meet transnational challenges? This chapter is divided into three parts. The first provides a short overview of transnational issues discussed by ARF participants and identifies those on which most attention has centred. Adding to what was originally written about securitization (Buzan et al. 1998), the second part focuses on the meaning of collective securitization by a regional arrangement and assesses whether any transnational issues that preoccupy ARF participants have been collectively securitized. The third part examines the areas where practical cooperation under ARF auspices has occurred and what form it has taken. The chapter offers several conclusions. First, ARF participants have discussed a growing number of transnational issues. After 9/11, international terrorism and maritime security dominated the agenda for a while. Since the Indian Ocean tsunami, disaster relief has received increasing attention.
