NATO calls itself the strongest defense alliance in the world. And a community of values. Not to provoke a conflict, to prevent a conflict. But this view is not shared by everyone. You don’t have a preordained right to be in charge. In many countries in Africa and Asia, the military alliance is regarded with skepticism and distrust.

We don’t believe in taking sides. The West also needs to recalibrate their approach. So, what does this mean for NATO and the future of the alliance? We cannot expect that all countries have the same view of this world as we do. NATO should expand on a global basis.

Burkina Faso in West Africa. In September 2022, mutinous soldiers detained the president and seized power, accusing the government of failing to fight an Islamist insurgency. It was the second coup within a year. Supporters of the coup took to the streets, waving Russian flags.

Russia wants to show that the West is failing. So, of course, when there is a legal geopolitical vacuum, Russia moves in. Everybody's in the game. We're just one of the players now. That’s what I think we have to understand and integrate into our thinking.

Our security is not regional. Our security is global. What happens in Ukraine matters for Asia. The more successful Putin is in Ukraine, the more likely it is that we can see something similar happen in the South China Sea

South Africa does not see the war in Ukraine in the same light as the West The government in Pretoria has refused to join the Western coalition against the Kremlin. Instead, South Africa conducted military drills with Russia and abstained on every resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly.

When we see NATO, we often can’t help but be a little bit suspicious that we are being set up for a future Cold War based on a trade war, based on historical aggression. NATO has never been aggressive. No one in the Global South has to worry about that.

The country of 1.4 billion people has aspirations to become a top global power. Faithful to the cornerstone of its foreign policy, multi-alignment, India has refused to sacrifice its ties with Russia over the war in Ukraine.

Their platform is BRICS an informal club initiated by Russia in 2009 to counter-balance the G7. It has recently welcomed new members. The group now represents 45% of the world's population.

BRICS members have differing interests. There is competition. There are disputes among them. But what unites them is the urge to challenge a world order dominated by the West.

BRICS is about geopolitics and economic cooperation. It is not a military alliance.

Well, my own personal view is that NATO should expand on a global basis, not for offensive purposes or just out of naive idealism, but because the world has entered, I think, a new period of foreign policy.

We are in Washington DC, where those voices doubting the value of the transatlantic bond have been growing louder and louder in recent years.

I believe very much that Europe has an important experience to share with the world: Countries coming together after a war, coming together, setting up structures.

Changing perspectives may be an important step towards a more peaceful future.