This book investigates how the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) constructs a security community through the lens of a people-oriented approach. Professor Alan Collins examines the evolution of ASEAN's institutional norms, specifically focusing on how the organization balances traditional state-centric security with emerging human-centric concerns. By analyzing the ASEAN Charter and various community action plans, the author argues that the regional body is actively redefining its identity to address non-traditional security threats.

Experts identify this work as a significant contribution to the study of regionalism and security in Southeast Asia. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which provides a rigorous examination of institutional development within the ASEAN framework.