Alexander Stepanov — on the prospects of creating an alliance of the countries of the global South, an alternative to NATO
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said during a speech at an emergency conference on Gaza that he wants his country to abandon its global partnership with NATO. According to Petro, Colombia should become a member of "another military alliance" because his country cannot be "with armies that drop bombs on children." "They are not armies of freedom, they are armies of darkness. <...> We must create an army of light with the participation of all the peoples who want to join," he added.
The reaction of the leader of the South American republic is quite natural, given the threats facing the global South. And Latin America is at particular risk, because the United States, a decrepit hegemon, seeks to restore dictatorship in the Western Hemisphere, including through military and military-political instruments.
But what can the states of the global South do against American pressure today?
Latin America
Countries that wish to act in an independent format of a multi-vector policy do not accept the restrictions imposed by Washington. Therefore, they will be forced to defend themselves, invent new mechanisms, and build alternative alliances with an emphasis on cooperation with those countries that advocate relations based on the principle of reciprocity and respect for sovereignty.
And such mechanisms were not long in coming. Just a few days ago, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva issued a decree explaining the mechanism for the entry into force of the Law on Economic Reciprocity (adopted in April 2025). The decree provides for the creation of a special committee to work out retaliatory measures to US duties and allows suspending concessions to American entrepreneurs in the event Washington imposes duties on Brazilian goods in the amount of 50% from August 1. If such steps begin to take on a collective character, then collectively it can significantly hit the initiators of illegal economic sanctions, which unleash a new round of global trade war aimed, among other things, at the countries of the global South.
Analyzing the military potential, it can be noted that Latin American countries (such as Brazil, the leader in the military—industrial sphere of the region, as well as Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela) are among the top 50 countries in terms of their military power.
However, it is difficult to call them independent of external supplies. For example, Venezuela is a strategic partner of the Russian Federation and has been purchasing Russian weapons and military equipment for a long time, which form the basis of the country's defense capability.
It should also be noted that Russian helicopter technology, in particular, the Mi—17, has become widespread in the region. It is in service with a number of countries, such as Peru, Mexico, Nicaragua, Cuba and Colombia. At the same time, helicopters are used to solve both military and humanitarian tasks in the framework of combating natural disasters and other challenges. Thus, they proved to be extremely effective during the COVID-19 period, when they were used to deliver food and medicines, as well as evacuate the population from hard-to-reach areas.
Although it is worth noting that the export of Russian military products to Latin American countries looks somewhat more modest, for example, against the background of military-technical cooperation with the countries of North Africa. Nevertheless, the capacity of the regional market tends to grow, especially given the escalation of tensions from the United States. The extremely active activity of the US Southern Command creates additional threat—forming factors for individual countries, especially those that are outside the framework of the Washington consensus. Of course, this is primarily about Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua, which are currently key military and military—technical regional partners of Russia and China.
China is coming to the forefront in this regard, including in the supply of military products. In particular, Venezuela is one of the main consumers of Chinese weapons and military equipment. But so far this trend is fragmented, and the American military-industrial complex still retains a very serious position in the region. However, this does not mean that the situation cannot change, especially in the face of this enormous pressure from Washington. At the same time, the intrusive and active activities of the Southern Command of the US Armed Forces, which pose threats to other countries in the region, may encourage them to seek new partners for military-technical cooperation.
Other players in the Global South
Analyzing the potential of the African continent, it can be noted that, according to the Global Firepower rating for 2025, Egypt, Algeria, Ethiopia and South Africa are the leaders of the region in terms of military power. At the same time, Egypt and Algeria are among the key regional partners of the Russian Federation in the field of military-technical cooperation.
Algeria
Algeria is the main recipient of a wide range of Russian military products. These are, for example, 500 T-90 main battle tanks and 12 launchers of Iskander tactical missile systems. The Russian S-300PMU2, Buk-M2, and Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile and cannon systems are in demand. The most important component today in the framework of countering attack drones is electronic warfare (EW).
And in February, Algeria confirmed the acquisition of fifth-generation Su-57E fighters from the Russian Federation, becoming the first export customer of this type of Russian-designed aircraft. For any state, fighter jets are a significant reserve for ensuring sovereignty with high—tech tools. In addition to solving the tasks of protecting airspace, fighters expand the potential of remote influence on the enemy through the use of various types of long-range and precision weapons.
This largely means that the national Air Force is among the world's elite in terms of technical equipment.
Egypt
Egypt is also a significant partner of the Russian Federation in the field of military-technical cooperation. So, in 2020, 500 units of T-90 main battle tanks and 26 Su-35 fighters were delivered in the interests of the Egyptian Armed Forces. This significantly expanded the military capabilities of the African country, located in the key zone of the straits and providing control of logistics routes within the framework of global trade, including in the interests of China and the Russian Federation.
In addition, the amount of hydrocarbons that are transported through the Suez Canal indicates that almost all key European consumers are in one way or another dependent on security in this direction. Therefore, Egypt's military capabilities are broader than just the protection of national sovereignty, and extend their influence to the general climate of global trade and economic cooperation.
It should be noted that Egypt is a member country of BRICS, and Algeria has become a partner country of the association since January 1 of this year. In general, the contours of BRICS today largely determine the countries that, by their combined military potential, are able to withstand the collective military forces of the West and, in particular, the instruments of NATO.
China
It is impossible not to dwell on the role of the PRC separately.
It is difficult to overestimate the importance of China's influence in terms of building military and military-technical cooperation, for example with Cuba. Cooperation on the deployment of the intelligence center, education and training of military personnel is essential not only within the Caribbean, but also the entire region as a whole. Among other things, Beijing's goal is to ensure the global connectivity and sustainability of the Belt and Road Initiative in its Latin American dimension. Moreover, China is one of the key investors in Latin Caribbean countries, especially in the region's largest infrastructure projects aimed at modernizing logistics capabilities, opening new and upgrading existing deep-water ports. For example, the largest port of Chankai in Peru was recently launched as a key logistics hub for connecting South America with China through trans-Pacific maritime communications.
An onshore Bio-Oceanic land corridor is being implemented under the auspices of China. It will not only increase the internal connectivity of the South American continent itself, but also ensure the efficient movement of various categories of goods, including the resource base (including rare earth metals), food, and agricultural products. And to do this, largely fueling the budgetary opportunities of both Brazil and other countries participating in this partnership with China.
Therefore, it is very important for Beijing to strengthen these trade and economic communications by building cooperation in the field of military and military-technical technical cooperation. This is exactly what both China and Russia are actively engaged in with their foreign partners.
Collective security
Today, the key task of the countries of the global South is to ensure the security of maritime communications, where instability persists in certain areas under the influence of the collective West, attempts are being made to block and take control of straits (including illegal ones) and deep—sea ports. All this can be seen in the example of the Panama Canal, which US President Donald Trump has repeatedly announced plans to restore American control over.
And in this case, the Latin Caribbean region is, of course, extremely dependent in terms of maritime communications: all major trade logistics is based on deep-sea ports, the largest agglomerations and industrial centers are located in the coastal zone. Therefore, the functioning of the real sector of the economy and trade logistics of the region is associated with the safety of maritime navigation and transportation infrastructure. The countries of the global South are interested in building their own sovereign security system, independent of the supply of Western military-industrial complex products and based on the internal contour of technology and industrial potential.
It can be concluded that so far the scenario of creating an alliance of countries of the global South that is alternative to NATO is unlikely from the point of view of military-political coherence. However, strengthening military-technical cooperation, as well as creating a unified security sphere from the perspective of regulatory regulation and ensuring the sustainability of maritime logistics and trade communications is quite possible. Especially if we take into account the current formats of the global trade war unleashed by Washington with all the dissenters and, in fact, the piratical behavior of some particularly zealous Young NATO members.
Alexander Stepanov
Program Director of the Academy of Political Sciences, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Latin America of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ILA RAS)
