HONOLULU -- The recent decision by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to skip the annual ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) ministerial-level dialogue this Friday in Vientiane represents a setback for U.S. efforts to persuade Southeast Asians that Washington really cares about their region. Rice plans to send her highly regarded deputy, Robert Zoellick, instead.

Zoellick had a very successful visit to six Southeast Asian nations in May, but the secretary's decision to skip her first opportunity to meet face to face with all her Asian counterparts has been widely reported as "an unnecessary snub."

ARF was established in 1994. Although neither Warren Christopher nor Madeleine Albright -- secretaries of state during the Clinton years -- had a perfect attendance record, Rice's immediate predecessor, Colin Powell, attended all four ARF meetings during his time in office, finding them "very, very useful" not only for promoting regional multilateralism but also for providing the opportunity to meet people on the sidelines. Powell used such meetings, for example, to restore dialogue with a North Korean counterpart and to sign a joint declaration with all 10 foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations promising cooperation in the war on terrorism (in which Southeast Asia remains a "second front.")