Back

Small States & Great Power Relations: How do Caribbean SIDs Secure their Interests?

June 17, 2021
Related topics: 
International Relations

The Policy Center for the New South, in partnership with the Brussels Diplomatic Academy, will host a webinar under the theme “Small States & Great Power Relations: How do Caribbean SIDs Secure their Interests?”, scheduled on Thursday, June 17th, 2021 at 2pm Rabat time/ 3pm Brussels time. These are extraordinary and highly uncertain times. Great power rivalry and competition between the USA and China are at an all-time high; the world is still in the grips of an on-going pandemic. Post COVID-19 recovery will be a long drawn out process. In the midst of tensions between East and West there are some who argue that a bifurcation of global systems will take place as the World Order continues to evolve and global value chains experience some degree of uncoupling as a result of both the effects of the pandemic and existing geopolitical tensions. In an evolving international structure small states need all the friends they can find. They have few opportunities and weapons in the soft power tool kit with which to lobby for and protect their interests. Coalitions and alliances matter. In this era of heightened tensions during which the economic and social effects of the pandemic will be long lasting, small states such as the SIDS of the Caribbean need to tread wearily, not wishing to be caught in tensions between East or West. In such a world, how do they influence global policies and secure their interests? Can they?

Speakers
Len Ishmael
Senior Fellow
Ambassador, Dr. Len Ishmael is a Senior Fellow of the Policy Center for the New South and a Senior Fellow and Distinguished Visiting Scholar of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. She is the Global Affairs Advisor of the Brussels Diplomatic Academy and visiting Professor of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the Mohammed 6 University, Morocco. Dr. Ishmael is a Commissioner on the Lancet Commission on COVID-19’s Regional Task Force for Latin America. She is the former Ambassador of the Eastern Caribbean States to the Kingdom of Belgium and European Union, and past President of the 79-member African, Caribbean & Pacific (ACP) Committee of Ambassadors in Brussels. She is a former Director & Head of the Regional Headquarters of the United Nations Economic ...
Eustace Wallace
Counsellor Political & Economic Affairs St Kitts & Nevis High Commission. Ottawa.
...

RELATED CONTENT

  • Download PDF
    Tribal Dynamics in the Sahel
    Authors
    Rida Lyammouri
    October 9, 2019
    This paper suggests that tribal dynamics of power structure are key in reestablishing peace and development in the region. The Sahel region’s security challenges are directly influenced by tribalism and ethnic dynamics. In recent decades mistreatment, favoritism, and corruption allowed criminality and multidimensional conflicts to flourish. This is evident in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Libya, and Chad. Lightly governed and poorly secured regions in these countries became more strate ...
  • La montée en puissance de l’extrême droite sonne-t-elle le glas de l’exceptionnalisme suédois ?
    Authors
    Jamal Machrouh
    October 9, 2019
    S’il existe un pays dans le monde où le concept du Soft Power prend pleinement sens et substance, ça serait fort probablement la Suède. Ce pays détient remarquablement toutes les composantes du Soft Power identifiées par le géopolitologue américain Joseph Nye dans son article paru en 2006 dans la revue Foreign Policy à savoir : la culture, les valeurs politiques et la politique étrangère. Située à proximité de l’océan glacial arctique, au Nord, la mer baltique, à l’Est, et les mers ...
  • Satellites: The New Frontier of Power
    Authors
    Amine Bennis
    October 7, 2019
    A few months ago, Indian Prime Minister Modi announced that his country had improved its space capabilities by shooting down from Earth a low orbit satellite that was 300 km away in space. Most commentators assume that the destroyed target was an Indian satellite, presumably outdated or no longer fully functioning. Modi further reassured the international community by stating that the technology will only be used for security, peace, and development purposes, and that the act did no ...
  • Hong Kong: A Combat for a Soul and Identity
    Authors
    Helmut Sorge
    October 4, 2019
    Massive and sometimes violent protests have been setting the pace in Hong Kong for over 100 days. Demonstrators have put forward five demands, amongst which a democratic system of local rule, not controlled by Beijing.  Below is an international press review of the Hong Kong political crisis by Helmut Sorge, former Foreign editor, and Middle East expert for Germany's leading newsmagazine "Der Spiegel", and columnist at the Policy Center for the New South.    Ta Kung Pao, a Hong Kon ...
  • Download PDF
    La Russie en Afrique Renouvellement d’une ancienne relation ou création d’une nouvelle ?
    Authors
    Abdelhak Bassou
    October 3, 2019
    La Russie et l’Afrique se connaissent depuis le XVe siècle. Leurs liens se sont renforcés et officialisés à partir du 19ème siècle et, depuis, l’empire et le continent entretiennent des relations continues, quoique connaissant, parfois, et au gré des conjonctures, quelques moments de léthargie. Ces dernières années, médias et littérature des relations internationales ne cessent de mettre aux premières loges un certain ‘’Retour’’ de la Russie en Afrique, une Afrique où interviennent ...
  • China at 70
    Authors
    Marcus Vinicius de Freitas
    October 3, 2019
    There is no doubt that China's 70th Anniversary celebration was the display of a new world superpower. From the military parade to the issuance of a paper reporting China's role in the New Era, it is clear that the country, whose current political system was established on 1 October 1949, is much different, more assertive and with a clear perspective of the role it wants to play in the international scenario. Everywhere in Beijing, the Chinese National Anthem was played, reminding t ...
  • India and Morocco’s New Cooperation Areas: Focusing on Security and Preventing Violent Extremism
    Authors
    Ihssane Guennoun
    October 2, 2019
    With India looking more towards Africa as a home for sustainable partners, it is also looking at diversifying the areas of collaboration with several African countries, especially with Morocco. As early as 1967, India’s then Vice-President Zakir Hussain visited Morocco and set the tone for engagement between both countries. The latter has established diplomatic relations based on mutual understanding, tolerance and respect. Since then, the two countries have enjoyed fruitful relatio ...
  • Les transferts de fonds des migrants vers l’Afrique exercent-ils un effet de levier sur l’investissement et sur la croissance économique ?
    Authors
    Nor-eddine OUMANSOUR
    Mohamed AZEROUAL
    Sarra BAHIJ
    October 2, 2019
    Cet article analyse les retombées des transferts de fonds des migrants sur la croissance économique et sur l’investissement domestique des pays africains. A cette fin, nous avons utilisé la Méthode des Moments Généralisés en Système en panels dynamiques pour un échantillon de 34 pays sur la période 1980-2016. Les principaux résultats des estimations effectuées montrent que les transferts de fonds des migrants exercent un effet significatif et positif sur la croissance économique et ...