Heine on the Rise of Active Non-Alignment in a Divided World
Ambassador Jorge Heine, Research Professor at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, analyzes the growing phenomenon of “New Neutrals” and the resurgence of Active Nonalignment (ANA) in his latest article, “Not Picking Sides and the ‘New Neutrals’: Active Nonalignment, Great Power Competition, and the Global South,” published as the lead piece in the Journal of World Affairs: Voice of the Global South.
Heine’s analysis highlights how at least 101 nations—caught between a U.S.-led Western bloc and another dominated by Russia and China—are opting for strategic neutrality, using great power competition to their economic advantage. As Washington and its allies impose investment restrictions and tariffs on China, Chinese firms are increasingly expanding into nonaligned nations, boosting trade and foreign direct investment in these economies. This shift is restructuring globalization, as geopolitical factors increasingly dictate trade and investment flows.
Heine argues that ANA, a concept rooted in Latin American foreign policy debates, offers developing nations a way to navigate this volatile environment. Unlike Cold War-era nonalignment, which focused on ideological distancing from superpowers, ANA is an active strategy—playing great powers against each other to maximize economic and political benefits. By refusing to align rigidly with any one bloc, countries practicing ANA increase their leverage, securing better trade deals, infrastructure investments, and diplomatic flexibility.
The implications of this trend are vast. From Latin America to Southeast Asia, nations are refining their diplomatic playbooks—hedging between competing powers rather than fully committing to one side. As Heine explains, this approach enables states to extract maximum concessions while maintaining autonomy in an era of rising geopolitical tensions. The result is a global order where economic pragmatism often trumps ideological alignment.
Read the entire article here.
Ambassador Jorge Heine is a Research Professor at the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University. He has served as ambassador of Chile to China (2014-2017), to India (2003-2007), and to South Africa (1994-1999), and as a Cabinet Minister in the Chilean Government. Read more about Ambassador Heine on his faculty profile.