Caribbean countries St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Lucia have had long-standing links with the Gaddafi regime. And at the recent intercessional meeting of Caricom heads, the leaders noted "with grave concern the recent developments in the Middle East and North Africa" and expressed "deep regret at the loss of life and condemns the use of violence against people." A clear indication that member states, whether linked to Gaddafi or not, are not likely to take any precipitate action. And that makes sense as the region and its individual member states have no place sticking their necks out in this matter. One already developing scenario out of the Libyan internal conflict is the increasing price of oil (US$115.52 Brent crude Thursday). The graph indicates a steady climb which would become increasingly steep if chaos breaks out in Libya among the rebels and there is intervention by the outside world. And while it may be that Libya's 1.6 million barrels of oil per day output is not extremely significant, there will be fear and confusion in the Middle East and that more than anything else could trigger large jumps in the price of oil. The projections on the harm that sustained high oil prices can do to a world economy gradually creeping out of a recession are not comforting. Although not directly involved, we in the Caribbean have a big stake in these matters.