Political Values in Asia, the ASEAN Political Security Community, and Confucius’ Philosophy Vicente Reyes, Charlene Tan A. Introduction In the ASEAN Charter, all member states are committed to common political values such as human rights, fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of law. These political values, as well as related political institutions and structures, are predominantly of Western origin. There is a need to recognize alternative models of organizing state and normative orders in Asia. One alternative is the political values that are derived and adapted from Asian philosophies. This paper critically discusses political values in Asia with a focus on the relevance of Confucius’ philosophy to the ASEAN political security community. The paper begins by examining the formation of ASEAN, ‘Asian values’ and ‘ASEAN Way’. This is followed by highlighting the key characteristics, challenges and future of the ASEAN political security community in the 21 st century. The second part of the paper focuses on the political philosophy of Confucius and its potential contributions towards the flourishing of the ASEAN political security community. B. ASEAN, Asian Values, and ASEAN Way On the 2 nd of July 2013, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) convened its 20 th meeting in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. This meeting was a remarkable accomplishment in the history of international relations. The ARF has no equivalent in any part of the world or in any epoch of human history. It exists as the longest and only multinational organization that includes key representatives of the Southeast Asian region (all the ASEAN member nations), countries of the modern western world (i.e. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the European Union, and the United