Former Foreign Minister Rudy Insanally said Caricom countries are not taking sufficient advantage of their numerical strength on the international stage.
One problem, is that very often small states “are too concerned with keeping up with the Joneses and doing things like how X and Y are doing it, when we ought to be thinking for ourselves,” Insanally was quoted in the Trinidad Guardian as saying.
Insanally, who has served in multiple high-level positions within the United Nations system, spoke on the issue at the St Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) when he launched his latest book: ‘Multilateral Diplomacy for Small States: The Art of Letting Others Have Your Way’. Insanally feels the 15-member regional institution very often forgets that “small states have numerical strength which gives them the advantage” when international decisions are being made.
Athough Insanally did not mention it, there are reports that the Caricom bloc within the Organisation of American States (OAS) may well ‘blow’ the region’s chances of holding the top position within the hemispheric body with the apparent withdrawal of support for OAS Assistant Secretary General Albert Ramdin, by his own country, Suriname, and apparent jockeying for position by other Caricom diplomats.
Guyana has nominated its ambassador to the United States and OAS, Bayney Karran for the assistant secretary general post and has been lobbying other countries, including Suriname to back its bid. Caricom, according to reports, has more or less conceded that the top post of the OAS traditionally goes to Latin America and as such its vote would be better used to secure the assistant secretary general position which the Caribbean has also traditionally held.
In Insanally’s view, Caricom countries “represent a significant voting bloc which, if wisely utilised, can bring them valuable political and economic returns”.
Be proactive
“The governments of small states need to be more imaginative in inventing a foreign policy and diplomacy to better serve their interests and circumstances,” the veteran diplomat said. He bemoaned the fact that “usually we are reacting to something that’s presented by the developed countries instead of having something in our own back pockets”.
“It is always more difficult to get your way if you are responding to something than if you took the trouble of putting it forward yourself,” Insanally added.
The highly-decorated Insanally is the holder of Guyana’s Golden Arrow of Achievement, Cacique Crown of Honour and Venezuela’s Order of the Liberator (Gran Cordon, 1973). In 2009, he was conferred with Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun.
Insanally was invited by the newly appointed director of the institute, Professor W Andy Knight, a distinguished Barbadian scholar, to give the first distinguished lecture in the 2013 Diplomatic Dialogue Series at the university. The lecture which focused on the topic of “Globalisation and Multilateralism – the challenges and opportunities presented to small states,” was well received by the audience which consisted of representatives of the university; senior government officials; members of the diplomatic corps; representatives of international organisations, civil society and private sector; faculty; and students. It was followed by a lively question-and-answer session and a reception. Presiding over the event was Professor Clement Sankat, the renowned Guyanese principal of UWI St Augustine, who expressed his confidence that the institute would rise to higher levels of performance under Professor Knight’s able direction. He also complimented the author on his publication.
Since its issue, the book has been favourably received by many institutions and individuals interested in the conduct of international affairs. The latest review which was done by Professor Denis Benn, Michael Manley Professor of Public Policy at UWI Mona, appears in the recent edition of the Caribbean Quarterly. Professor Benn’s conclusion is that “Based on its substantive themes and its insights into the diplomatic process, ‘Multilateral Diplomacy for Small States: The Art of Letting Others Have Your Way’ constitutes a primer on international relations and is therefore required reading for the professional diplomat. I also recommend it to national and international policy makers, the academic community, as well as members of the general public interested in international relations.”
As a result of the positive interest shown in the book, the author will now extend its distribution to a wider readership within the international community. The publication is available in Guyana at Austin’s Book Store, Church Street, Georgetown.
