When world leaders speak like academics

It is rare to see new academic theories permeate into the vocabulary of world leaders. That is precisely what has happened with “active non-alignment” (ANA), an idea propagated by Chilean practitioners Jorge Heine, Carlos Fortin, and Carlos Ominami.

- Hari Seshasayee

Heads of government and foreign ministers from Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia, and South Africa have used this term recently to describe their country’s foreign policy positions.

In response to the war in Iran, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto took a position “consistent with the principle of active non-alignment to continue to push for a peaceful resolution and prevent the spread of conflict.” Malaysian Prime Minister (PM) Anwar Ibrahim adopted a “posture of active non-alignment, to preserve our ability to act on our own terms.” South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa publicly reaffirmed his “commitment to the policy of active non-alignment.” Brazil’s chief foreign policy advisor notes that “on some issues, we will vote alongside the US; on others, we may converge with China. This is the logic of active non-alignment.”

The Chilean scholars coined ANA in 2019 as a doctrine with a “pragmatic, non-ideological, almost transactional character.” In their recent book, The Non-Aligned World: Striking Out in an Era of Great Power Competition, they describe the effectiveness of ANA in a world where geopolitical uncertainty reigns supreme.