The 13th meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) will be held in Kuala Lumpur on July 28. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be attending her first ARF meeting after skipping last year’s gathering in Vientiane, as the ARF was perceived to be a talk shop. If Rice is to be convinced that she should attend future meetings, the ARF needs to be seen as a useful opportunity for the to network with a range of countries with significant Asia-Pacific interests resulting in substantive outcomes.