This thesis has attempted to answer why a stronger response isn’t seen from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the South China Sea when two of its member states are vocal claimants of islands in the sea. According to the theory of security communities created by Karl Deutsch, members of a security community should have the same perception of external threats and deal with threats against another member of the community as a threat to their own state and well-being. This is not the response we have seen from ASEAN, but instead a divided ASEAN has tried to organize various forums to create dialogue with China on implementing the 2002 Declaration of the code of conduct in the South China Sea (DOC) as well as creating a binding version of a Code of Conduct (COC). This weak and divided response to China's expansive claims in the South China Sea could be due to weak security integration within the organization.
Through discourse analysis of statements by all ASEAN member states concerning the South China Sea I conclude that there has been an increased level of security integration within ASEAN, where member states now have started to define threats and values equally. Still there exists a considerable wedge in the view of China as a threat, which stands in the way of full security integration and in turn this stands in the way for ASEAN to become a fully mature security community.