Caricom governments and the United Kingdom government, represented by their foreign ministers, met last week in the latest of a series of such meetings held periodically since 1998. The meeting, particularly from the Caricom side, emphasized the difficulties for our states emanating from the nature of the international economic and political environments. In addition, there could be heard from the Caricom side a concern about a certain lack of appreciation from the international arena for the difficulties being experienced by relatively small entities plagued by various vulnerabilities and limited resources for building and sustaining economic and social resilience (the current buzz word being used by small-island developing states (SIDS) like the majority of the Caribbean states).
Caricom ministers emphasized the importance of Britain placing a certain emphasis on the partnership between our states and the United Kingdom, Minister of Foreign Affairs Carolyn Rodriques – Birkett, as leader of the grouping, referring to the relationship as composed of “longstanding friends and international development partners,” though she did note that the last such meeting had produced “few tangible results.”
The atmosphere at the meeting was perhaps, however, better than it might have been, as indicated by both the UK and Caricom ministers, owing to the British decision to entertain, not too long ago, a reduction in the Air Passenger Duty which had certainly become a sore point in the relationship. Yet the Caricom ministers did find time to emphasise other sources of disgruntlement, in particular the practical problems raised on the British side in respect of ensuring job training placements in England for Caricom young citizens, and difficulties involved in obtaining visas with dispatch.
The British concern with the issue of security, including the use of the Caribbean Sea as a major passageway for the movement of drugs and weapons, was reflected in an insistence, obviously by the British, on the Caribbean more determinedly supporting efforts at recovery of assets (money in particular) derived from involvement in the drug trade, and the need to ensure legislation and active practical support, especially through active criminal prosecution of offenders.
Some parts of the joint communiqué do remind the reader that for the British, the export of its industrial and other skills – the business side of things – remains important to the relationship with these relatively small states, even as there is increasing competition among the major states for involvement in the rapid growth of the much larger so-called emerging states of the developing world. In that connection, there was obviously a mutuality of interest in the conference in respect of the discussions in particular, on the development of various sorts of energy, including non-oil resources, as against fossil fuels.
As the communiqué put it, recognizing the pressures placed on Caricom states in having to find the foreign exchange for imported fuel, while indicating that there is business to be done in respect of other sources of energy, “The UK will share its experience of managing complex renewable energy systems through a private sector-led knowledge-sharing mechanism on smart grids, distributed generation and holistic energy management systems.”
Indeed, a close look at the communiqué will indicate that the conference was not just about the effects of increasing global complexity on small states like those of the Caribbean, but also about Britain finding new ways of involving its scientific and business expertise in areas which are likely to enhance growth and sustainability, and therefore be profitable for both parties.
In a relatively few paragraphs, in a meeting of foreign ministers on what might be called traditional foreign policy, both sides recognized what was referred to as “the foreign policy challenges of an increasingly unstable and multi-polar world,” with reference being made to “continuing armed conflict around the globe and their grave humanitarian impacts, including as a result of the use of sexual violence in conflict,” Nigeria being singled out.
This was, of course, a week in which events in the Middle East boiled over once again, and in regard to events in Iraq, much controversy over Britain’s role in the overthrow of Saddam Hussein by President George W Bush being reflected by vigorous defences being made by former Prime Minister Tony Blair for his support of the American government.
It would appear that Britain was prepared to avoid any negative perception of Caricom’s attempts to engage with Latin America, and in particular, Venezuela, the paragraph of the communiqué on that country seeming to reflect broad Caricom opinion, with no sentiments reflecting the anxieties on the other side of the Atlantic, but taking the route of Unasur’s pursuit of continuing dialogue.
In summary, the discussions of last week seemed not to focus much on present difficulties in the economic sphere being experienced by many Caricom states, these being presumably left to the IMF. Instead, and it seems both sides were in full concurrence with this, there was an emphasis on lines of future economic development in what is perceived as a set of new environmental challenges reflected in the significance of new sources of energy.
There is nothing in the communiqué that reflects discussion of the progress of the Economic Partnership Agreement, or of any Caricom concern that the alliances built up during the Lomé and subsequent conventions can be productive for the future, given in particular, the European Union’s continuing deep interest in relations with Africa. But perhaps Caricom governments feel that the connection between Europe and Africa, with the rapidity of economic development of some of the states there, no longer merits British support, but is a matter for our own autonomous engagement with the states of the African continent.
Indeed, it could be surmised that, with Britain’s increasing interest in the economic development of Latin America, we are now to be seen as part of that sphere, with Caricom’s location on the drug transmission route from that arena as being the major concern. And from that perspective, the communiqué therefore reflects a rather minimalist concern about the future of what is likely to be seen as no more than a small subsystem of that wider space.
