Between honour and necessity is to address the 2025 Ocean Congress in Nice. It comes at brewing times of fragilities and re-alignments (when the new didn’t come and the old is questioned), when our global maritime community is confronting an unprecedented convergence of environmental vulnerability, geopolitical tension, and urgent developmental needs—particularly in the Global South.
The oceans are not simply blue frontiers. They are connective tissues of human civilization—lifelines for nations whose survival, identity, and continuity are shaped by their intimate proximity to the sea. Nowhere is this more palpable than among the small island developing states (SIDS), and the extensive coastline and archipelagic countries of the Global South.
These nations, despite their cultural wealth and ecological significance, exist today at a precarious confluence of political, socio-economic, culturo-demograpic, geomorphological and ecological fragility. Rising sea levels, eroding coastlines, disappearing freshwater lenses, increasingly frequent storm surges, and tectonic instability are daily realities. Yet, alongside these physical threats, these nations also grapple with communications isolation, limited access to undersea data cables, sparse maritime infrastructure, and digital marginalization—all of which stymie their development and weaken their voice in multilateral fora.
Beyond the waves lies another invisible but equally powerful divide: the digital divide—manifested in limited access to oceanographic data, inadequate satellite coverage, and the absence of meaningful participation in global data governance frameworks. This exclusion undermines data sovereignty – as a part of other exclusive indigenous socio-political, economic and cultural rights spirited by the UN Charter, and risks relegating entire nations to the periphery of the emerging AI-driven world order.
As the international community rapidly integrates artificial intelligence into climate modelling, disaster preparedness, and marine resource management, it becomes vital to ensure that AI technologies are not imposed as top-down instruments of algorithmic hegemony, but rather developed in balance—ethically, equitably, and inclusively.
In this context, we must view data sovereignty not as a luxury, but as a necessity—particularly for nations whose future hinges on their ability to manage maritime resources, assert control over their economic zones, and participate in the digital blue economy.
It is here that we must revisit the foundational principles of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), eloquently articulated by thinkers such as prof. Anis H. Bajrektarevic, who has long emphasized the need for a truly inclusive multilateralism—anchored in dignity, balance, and the sovereign equality of nations. He reminds us that NAM was never merely a Cold War relic, but a permanent call for structural justice, long-searched gate to the Kantian harmony, a global platform for states striving to avoid entrapment in the rivalries of great powers —now including digital and technological empires.
Today, as we face the climate-ocean-AI emergency, the message of the Non-Aligned Movement is more relevant than ever. It must evolve from a geopolitical posture into a solidarity framework encompassing climate, oceans, data, and AI—enabling the most vulnerable nations to exert agency over both their physical and digital sovereignty.
The International Institute for Middle-East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES), headquartered on the territory of the former Yugoslavia—one of the principal initiators of the Non-Aligned Movement—stands committed to this agenda. Through its forthcoming Global Academy for Geo-politico-Tech Futures (GPTF) and its ongoing flagship program “Understanding AI”, IFIMES and its consortium of international partners (many of which come from Global South) remains at the disposal of the Global South. These initiatives aim to democratize access to technological foresight, strengthen geopolitical literacy, and promote ethical AI development tailored to the needs of developing and emerging economies.
Furthermore, IFIMES fully supports the efforts of the Group of 77, and continues to serve as a true European friend to the Global South—not in word alone, but through concrete programs of engagement, education, and empowerment. Back in Belgrade of 1961, 13 out of 25 founding members were island, archipelagic and costal states, while already in Habana of 1979 – the Movement got 93 members, out of which over ¾ were the island, archipelagic and costal nations (74 of them). No other multilateral system was so prone to these states in history as much as it was NAM. As to keep up this spirit of 1961 Belgrade and NAM,
We call for:
- Decisive and impartial protection of UNCLOS universal regime;
- The protection of marine biota of warm and cold seas, and indigenous way of life of the costal groups, inducing the Arctic circle vulnerable groups;
- Enhanced South-South scientific cooperation on oceanographic, socio-political, and connectivity research;
- The development of inclusive economic – blue, socio-cultural and digital – strategies for all, particularly for the small-island, archipelagic and the extensive costal-line nations;
- Protection from overtourism and other forms of overexplotations (assistance in politico-diplomatic actions, research, trainings);
- The protection of undersea cables and marine communication routes as critical global commons but also balancing it for the environmental balance;
- The recognition of data sovereignty and algorithmic equity as pillars of ocean governance, including a globally balanced AI ecosystem, reflective of diverse civilizational voices—not just dominant technological blocs;
- Right to (Digital) regret, and the right for analogue dignity.
Let us remember: the oceans bind us in shared destiny, not just in shared danger. For the communities of the littoral world, justice is not an abstraction—it is measured in coastlines, in coral reefs, in connectivity and code, in tides that do not wash homes—or cultures—away.
This 2025 Nice High Level Summit, therefore, must not only map the ocean—it must map a new moral geography of solidarity, rooted in science, sovereignty, and non-aligned cooperation—analogue and digital alike.
As our professors says: “Harmony of the everlasting peace is our destination, but the journey is called NAM”!
