Some years ago, I heard the late Michael Manley, the former Prime Minister of Jamaica, deliver a speech on the Caribbean’s changing place in the world.
The Cold War had ended and the Berlin Wall had fallen. It was a truly determining moment. His remarks matched the occasion. Speaking as only he could, he spelt out the implications for the Caribbean and for poorer nations of living in a world in which the US was the only global power. He saw then that the region was likely to become of less interest to the outside world. His remarks were measured, thought provoking and many years ahead of their time in recognising that a US led consensus would emerge that would seek to remake all in its own image.
As he predicted, by the early 1990s the Caribbean
