Heine Publishes Article on South Africa’s Foreign Policy in Business Day
Ambassador Jorge Heine, Research Professor at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies and Interim Director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future published an article in Business Day on July 22, 2024, discussing South Africa’s “active non-alignment” foreign policy approach.
In the article, Heine explains the concept of active non-alignment, which he developed with colleagues Carlos Fortin and Carlos Ominami. He discusses how South Africa has played a key role in the resurgence of non-alignment across the Global South, particularly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Heine highlights several examples of South Africa’s independent stance in global affairs, including its response to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, its leadership in the 2023 BRICS summit in Johannesburg, and its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice regarding the situation in Gaza.
The article concludes with Heine’s observation: “The rise of the Global South and the stark division between North and South is a key hallmark of our era. With the rise of the Global South (or Global Majority, as some refer to it), goes that of active non-alignment, a foreign policy doctrine for our time.”
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 Pardee School faculty profile.