The Caribbean Must Move On Without the United States
It is no secret that U.S. influence globally has been declining. Even before Donald Trump’s presidency, the U.S. saw sharp declines in its share of the world income and influence. With China’s rise in the periphery, the U.S. is confronted by the possibility of the Thucydides Trap.
The Thucydides Trap refers to the tendency towards war when a rising power, in this case, China, emerges. With the future of the international world order uncertain, Caribbean countries must turn to each other and other low and middle-income states for growth and development opportunities.
As the U.S. looks toward a Biden presidency, so too the international community is looking forward to a Biden foreign policy. Biden largely ran on a “fixing Trump’s mistakes” and that would include foreign policy. Biden’s foreign policy of 7 pillars includes statements like defending America’s vital interests, expanding diplomacy, and ending wars forever. This should be taken with caution as the U.S., despite the rhetoric, has a history of aggressive and hegemonic foreign policy.
Even as COVID-19 continues to ravish the globe, climate change and other global ills have not taken a break. The Caribbean cannot wait on the U.S. to regain its footing to begin acting. Caribbean regional integration has been around for decades and is still thriving. While some nations have been slow to implement integration policy, the institutions that have arisen from existing policy implementations have served us well. For example, The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) has stepped up in the region and provided a central location for COVID-19 information and resources in the region. This is just one example of regionalism in the Caribbean working to positively impact the lives of Caribbean people.
The Caribbean’s South-South relations largely happen with Latin America because of proximity and there has been significant progress in strengthening Caribbean-Africa relations through the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the African Union (AU). The Caribbean must continue to pursue these partnerships and extend itself beyond the U.S./China bipolar world and lead the charge in creating a non-aligned and multipolar world where small states have an equal voice. This is the time for the Caribbean and all regions in the developing world to deepen relationships with each other to bring about much-needed progress.