The ASEAN Security Community Plan of Action6
The process aiming at establishing the ASC was reinforced at the 10th ASEAN Summit held in Vientiane in late November 2004 when ASEAN adopted the ASEAN Security Community Plan of Action. This Plan outlines that the ASC should be based on “shared norms and rules of good conduct in inter-state relations; effective conflict prevention and resolution mechanisms; and post-conflict peace building activities.” It also clarifies that the ASC is to promote an “ASEAN-wide political security and cooperation in consonance with the ASEAN Vision 2020 rather than a defence pact, military alliance or a joint foreign policy.” The Plan also stresses that the ASC process shall be “progressive” and that it shall be guided by well-established principles of non-interference, consensus based decision-making, national and regional resilience, respect for the national sovereignty, the renunciation of the threat or the use of force, and peaceful settlement of differences and disputes which has served as the foundation of ASEAN cooperation (ASEAN Security).