THE ASEAN COMMUNITY AND THE CONCEPT OF SECURITY COMMUNITIES

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations was established as a multilateral organization to solve common problems within a vision of international integration for the region. So, what is the reason that allow these countries to overcome differences in a markedly different group of states and conceive a common regional identity, reflected in an organization such as ASEAN? The answer to this question lies in the Constructivist paradigm of international relations and has to do with the following hypothesis: despite their marked political, cultural and economic differences, the ASEAN members that built a common identity is due to one pragmatic reason. Fostering interaction through a Security Community allows its member states to address threats coming from the international community, ensuring their survival in a complex regional and international context