「共同體」內的每個成員應在特定事務上有相當程度共享的理解和趨同之政策。2003年，東南亞國家協會在「峇里第二協約」（Bali Concord II）的架構下，確立構築「共同體」的目標，包括安全、經濟、社會文化等三大面向。2009年，「共同體路徑圖」（Roadmap for an ASEAN Community）又再次對東協整合的目標進行確認。2015年，東協經濟共同體（the ASEAN Economic Community, AEC）正式成立，代表東協國家在經濟整合上的新里程碑。然而，由於東協會員國間的政治與經濟差異過大，難以在所謂的共同事務上凝聚共享的集體認知或調和彼此之政策。本文藉由治理糧食安全的個案，指出共同體成立之後的東協會員國仍傾向自助或消極的不合作；毋寧，在糧食安全的治理這方面，個案的研究結果顯示東協只是一個形式上已「合」，但實質上未「整」的區域組織。

The members of one community may share their ideas about some specific issues and have policy convergence to a certain extent. In 2003, the member states of ASEAN endorsed the Bali Concord II, which established a vision for the goal of integration through three pillars on security, economic, and social-culture. In 2009, the Roadmap for an ASEAN Community was issued, which reaffirms the commitment to accelerating the establishment of regional community. The formal establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, as part of the ASEAN Community, marks an important milestone. However, because political disparities and economic development gaps between member states remain stark, it has been difficult to establish a shared common identity and to harmonize members' policies regarding the common affairs of ASEAN. Based on the case study of governing food security, this paper demonstrates that member states still prefer a self-help approach or unappreciative participation. In other words, ASEAN just established a formally integrated community instead of a community with substantial union.