By Alan Ting

KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia: The modern global landscape is increasingly defined by a manufactured convergence of crises. Across the nations of the Global South, the fundamental pillars of human survival namely food and energy are under siege. This is not the result of mere market accidents, but rather the fallout of misguided manoeuvres by the US-led Western order as it attempts to cling to a fraying era of global dominance. 

By weaponizing the resources we all depend on, the West has sparked a period of volatility that threatens to destabilise entire continents. In this climate, collective resistance is the only way to survive.

The strategy is transparent: control or block global energy flows to maintain a geopolitical grip. We see this pattern in the relentless legal and political hounding of sovereign leaders like President Nicolas Maduro, the ongoing hybrid war against Iran, and the looming threat of conflict in the vital Strait of Malacca.

Open-source maritime data and geopolitical analyses suggest that these are not isolated incidents; they are parts of a broader doctrine designed to choke the lifelines of developing nations. When energy is disrupted, the impact hits the kitchen table immediately. Farmers, who are the backbone of the Global South, find themselves unable to pay for diesel and fertilisers just as the planting season begins. As fields stay empty, the threat of famine begins to haunt vulnerable nations, effectively turning food into a geopolitical tool.

For a glimpse into the future being prepared for the rest of the world, one need only look at Cuba. For decades, the island has endured a relentless campaign of US sanctions aimed at forcing a change in government. Under the administration of Donald Trump, this pressure reached a lethal new level with a blockade on oil shipments. 

This policy has triggered constant blackouts and fuel shortages, even forcing the temporary closure of schools and non-essential workplaces. Cuba has already been enduring sanctions designed to generate starvation, a cynical strategy that is now being exported to the rest of the Global South. 

It stands as a grim warning and a call to action: unless these nations collectively voice their opposition to these inhumane tactics, they will be picked off one by one. In the face of such a coordinated assault on sovereignty, the old adage has never been more relevant: either we stand together or we hang separately.

This tactic—the systematic breaking of infrastructure and the use of economic strangulation—is a well-proven method of warfare used by Western powers. We see the physical reality of this doctrine in the ruins of Gaza, the strikes on Iran, and the destruction of Libya and Syria. 

It is the same logic that drives the proxy war waged against Russia through Ukraine, where energy pipelines like the Nord Stream and regional stability are sacrificed to weaken a rival. Human rights monitors have often noted that the primary victims of these "maximum pressure" campaigns are rarely the elites, but the ordinary citizens whose access to medicine and electricity is cut off.

The ultimate endgame, however, lies further east. The "final move" in this global chess game is increasingly directed at China. By stoking tensions in the South China Sea and threatening to disrupt the Strait of Malacca, the world’s most critical maritime chokepoint, the West seeks to hold the economic heart of the Global South hostage. If the strait is compromised, the shockwaves would collapse the economies of dozens of developing nations that rely on that corridor for almost all their trade.

The nations of the Global South can no longer afford to stay silent or neutral. The weaponisation of the dollar, the blockade of essential resources, and the engineering of energy crises are threats that ignore borders. This is a deliberate attempt to reset the global order by making the cost of independence too high to pay. It is a form of "neocolonialism by ledger," where debt and resource control do the work once done by occupying armies.

To safeguard their sovereignty, the Global South must build a unified front. This means developing alternative financial systems, creating South-South energy cooperatives, and establishing food security pacts that are immune to Western interference. True sovereignty is not just a fancy legal term; it is the practical ability to feed your people and power your hospitals without asking permission from a distant power. 

The era of submission must end. The struggle of Cuba, the resilience of Iran, and the pressures facing farmers from Africa to Southeast Asia are all part of the same story. Only through radical solidarity can these nations hope to dismantle a system that uses hunger and darkness as weapons of war. The choice is no longer between different political sides, but between collective strength and individual ruin.

In line with these aspirations on national sovereignty and developmental aspirations, the countries of the Global South must work towards strengthening their information space to ensure that they are in control of the narratives that their people rely on and to blunt the information warfare from those seeking to stunt the rise of a multipolar world.

*Alan Ting is an observer of regional affairs and global geopolitics based in the Land Below the Wind.*