Atlantic Council: Building a US Technology Strategy for the Global South

Earlier this week, the Civitas One Team attended an Atlantic Council Virtual Event: Building a US Technology Strategy for the Global South. This event was moderated by Andrew L. Peek, Director of Adrienne Arsht National Security Resilience Initiative and the GeoStrategy Initiative, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and Conrad Tucker, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Science and Policy, GeoStrategy Initiative at the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.

Joining the conversation are

· Ambassador Julie Chung, Distinguished Fellow, Indo-Pacific Security Initiative, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Rafik Hairi Cetner and Middle East programs

· Sergio Guzman, Nonresident Fellow, Global China Hub

· Kenton Thibaut, Senior Resident Fellow, China, Digital Forensic Research Lab and Senior Fellow, Indo-Pacific Security Initiative, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

The full virtual event can be watched here. 

As the rapid expansion of AI, DPI, and advanced connectivity, the U.S. faces a pivotal foreign policy question: How can it offer a compelling, sustainable alternative to state-backed digital ecosystems in the Global South?

For decades, international technology policy has focused on high-income economies. Today however, the central focus for digital expansion is shifting dramatically toward the Global South. From mobile banking ecosystems in Kenya to digital ID platforms in India, developing nations are digitizing at an unprecedented pace. The central driver of this expansion lies in ambition. The Global South is home to the world’s youngest, fastest-growing populations.

However, building physical digital backbone networks requires immerse capital and technical expertise. This funding gap has created a structural vulnerability. While western capital has often hesitated to invest heavily in high-risk infrastructure projects in developing countries, foreign entities stepped in to fill the void. Through initiatives like the Digital Silk Road, Beijing has provided subsidized digital infrastructure to emerging markets.

A recurring theme during the Atlantic Council event was the inherent flaw in historical U.S. technology messaging toward developing nations. For years, American foreign policy regarding global telecommunications relied heavily on defensive warnings advising nations against adopting Chinese 5G gear due to national security and data privacy risks.

As panel discussions highlighted, this approach has largely reached its political limits in the Global South.

Governments in developing nations face immediate domestic imperatives, expanding internet access to rural populations, digitizing healthcare systems, and driving economic growth. When Western diplomats urge local policymakers to reject affordable telecom hardware without offering a financially viable alternative, the messaging falls flat.

To build an effective strategy, the panel noted, the U.S. must transition from an approach based on restrictions to an approach based on positive offerings. Rather than asking nations to choose sides, Washington needs to provide value propositions that align directly with the national development priorities of recipient countries, experts say.

Key Pillars of an Actionable Strategy

The panel outlines several different avenues to construct a strategy.

The primary hurdle for American technology adoption abroad is cost. U.S. and allied technological solutions are often market-driven, premium products that lack the state-backed subsidies enjoyed by foreign competitors. To level the playing field, the U.S. must fully leverage and reform public tools such as the Development Finance Corporation, the Export-Import Bank, and multilateral development banks.

While the U.S. cannot conquer this alone, it can lead the movement toward open-standard networks which will allow host nations to mitch and match components from different global suppliers. This prevents dangerous single-vendor dependencies and reduces long-term maintenance costs.

It is important to note that technology transfer is incomplete without human capital. A sustainable U.S. strategy must emphasize technical training, education, and collaborative research and development. Furthermore, as the world navigates the rise of AI, developing nations are eager to establish effective AI governance frameworks. By offering technical assistance on ethical AI standards and laws, the U.S. can help partner nations foster safe, local ecosystems rather than remaining mere consumers of foreign algorithm.

Addressing Local Realities

Experts pointed out governments in Latin America and South and Southeast Asia are increasingly focused on data sovereignty, ensuring their citizen’s data is stored, processed and governed domestically rather than being extracted by foreign entities.

An effective U.S. strategy must respect this drive for local agency. Rather than pushing an all or nothing framework, Western policymakers should champion model frameworks that prioritize user trust and protection, localization without isolation, and digital public infrastructure that lower transaction costs.

The virtual event organized by the Atlantic Council serves as a timely reminder that technology and AI policy are in fact foreign.

Sources:

• The Atlantic Council. 2026. "Building a US Technology Strategy for the Global South" September 28. Link