Geographical proximity is one of the key elements in the concept of security interdependence. One country’s security policy often directly affects security calculations and strategic assessments of its neighbors. Security cooperation is thus more desirable at the regional level. In the Asia-Pacific region, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) exemplifies a political approach to security multilateralism; while the ASEAN Defense Ministerial Meeting Plus (ADMM Plus) highlights a defense approach. This article discusses the origin and nascent development of the ADMM Plus to understand its institutional base and designated functions and tries to provide a fair response to the criticism of being ineffective. It argues that even in response to common transnational security concerns, the regional defense cooperation can hardly be “de-bordered”. Instead of pursuing the institutional design of operational integration, the modus operandi of the ADMM Plus continue to follow the “protocol” of diplomacy. The recently revisited notion of defense diplomacy is useful to explain the rationales of members’ acceptance to the ASEAN-centric arrangements.

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