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

June 17, 2021

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.
...

  • Authors
    Lemine Ould M. Salem
    June 13, 2018
    On 29 May 2018, at the Summit organized by French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palais de l'Elysée in Paris, the four main players in the Libyan crisis approved a "Political Declaration on Libya" calling for the organization of both legislative and presidential elections on 10 December next. This "historic" text, as described by the French Head of State, is nevertheless in jeopardy given the complexity of the current situation in Libya. There have been countless initiatives to b ...
  • Authors
    June 11, 2018
    Donald Trump, a golf addict with a self-declared handicap of 3, is not noted for any chess enthusiasm, although the game is a simulation of a battle, and filled with military terminology such as double attack, demolition, breakthrough, decoying, interception, blockade, and x-ray attack among others. The historic game is intellectual, structured, and logic. The object is to maneuver the antagonist’s king into a position from which escape is impossible. The two contenders - at times - ...
  • Authors
    Lemine Ould M. Salem
    June 6, 2018
    Les quatre acteurs majeurs de la crise libyenne ont approuvé, le 29 mai 2018, lors du Sommet organisé par le Président français Emmanuel Macron au Palais de l’Elysée à Paris, une “Déclaration politique sur la Libye” qui prévoit l’organisation le 10 décembre prochain d’un double scrutin, législatif et présidentiel. Ce texte “historique”, selon le Chef de l’Etat français, reste cependant menacé par la complexité de la réalité sur le terrain libyen. On ne compte plus les initiatives v ...
  • Authors
    May 31, 2018
    Salutations Thank you for the invitation to address the 2018 Africa Think Tank Summit  in this memorable city of Rabat. I thank in particular, the OCP Policy Center and the Think Tank and Civil Societies Program of the University of Pennsylvania for hosting the Summit with the theme “Deepening Expertise and Enhancing Sustainability: Insight into Contemporary Challenges Facing African Think Tanks”. Rabat, Morocco has been the sprouting ground of numerous agenda-setting instruments ...
  • May 31, 2018
    Avec la refonte des relations entre l’Union Européenne et les pays ACP (Afrique, Caraïbes et Pacifique), prévue pour février 2020, il devient urgent de repenser le cadre du partenariat entre l’Europe et l’Afrique et de proposer des éléments de refondation d’un vouloir vivre collectif. Priorité éducative, création d’emplois pour les jeunes via le développement territorial, promotion des partenariats publicprivé dans les infrastructures, comptent parmi les leviers d’actions possibles. ...
  • Authors
    Sabine Cessou
    May 31, 2018
    What are the best ways forward to enhance the capacity, increase the impact, and ensure the long term viability of think tanks in Africa? These questions have been debated during the 2nd edition of African Think Tank Summit (ATTS) held in Rabat from May 9th to May 11th.  The African think tanks have positively evolved over the years in order to respond to the specific needs of their different countries. They operate as platforms to share knowledge and train young leaders, with some ...
  • May 31, 2018
    With the reshaping of relations between the EU and the ACP countries (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific), and the expected revision of the ACP-EU agreement in 2020, it is essential to re-visit the framework of key partnerships between Europe and Africa and to propose efficient collaborative strategies to enhance relations. This book explores the various areas of cooperation for the renewal of African-European partnerships, notably in fields such as education, the creation of jobs for yo ...
  • Authors
    May 31, 2018
    He wore sunglasses. A traditional red and white checkered headscarf, a Bedouin Arab keffiyeh, covered his balding head. His combat uniform was khaki colored. When my host sat down he clamped his Kalachnikov with two hands, tucking the weapon to his chubby body, 5 feet and 4 inches in all. He was unshaven, with his famous three days beard. The tent was surrounded by armed guards, since we were meeting (in secret) in the Jordan Valley, near the Israeli-Jordanian border. Caution was ad ...
  • Authors
    May 31, 2018
    OCP Policy Center and the Think Tank and Civil Societies Program of the University of Pennsylvania, with the support of the Moroccan International Cooperation Agency (AMCI), the Asian Development Bank hosted the 2018 Africa Think Tank Summit under the theme “Deepening Expertise and Enhancing Sustainability: Insight into Contemporary Challenges Facing African Think Tanks.” The summit was held May 9-11th, 2018 at The View Hotel, Rabat, Morocco. The most influential and innovative thi ...