We have been living through a rapid transition from a world governed by rules and principles to one defined by opportunistic realism. Personal conviction is fickle in the face of this transactional pragmatism; human interaction is no longer buttressed by truth or trust; international law no longer has the power to restrain; and governance in most countries just drives citizens to frustration and tries their patience by disrespecting their intellect.
Let us reflect on two democracies—the United States and Trinidad and Tobago.
What values does the US stand for regarding immigration as a country of immigrants? Is it anti-immigration, anti- immigration abuse, or selective admission?
What about foreign policy? Should America be fighting with friends like Canada, Mexico, Europe? Should the US be over-accommodating with countries like Russia or North Korea? Should Israel be determining US foreign policy in the Middle East? Should the US be a war-mongering nation with favoured elites holding equity and venture investment stakes in defence equipment, technology and military drones?
What principle governs such behaviour?
Should a highly militarised ICE be entering cities and states, attacking, assaulting, sometimes killing people, in pursuit of harsh anti-immigration action? What is the guiding principle?
Clearly, the US electorate does not favour militarisation through ICE’s menacing crackdowns, which induce a sense of terror in a free USA. And they are dismayed at the war with Iran that the Trump administration had no compelling reason to begin and, now, cannot figure a way out of, as grocery and gas prices choke them.
US voters made their resentment known on midterm election day with high impact because they could discern no rational principle. When principles are dissonant, people sometimes rebel.
What about our country? Have governments in T&T been principled in governance and behaved in foreign policy matters? T&T has moved through cycles of boom to bust because governments overspent (Williams and Manning years) and did not save enough, nor diversified the economy strategically enough. And, of course, the country’s GDP is now 17 per cent less than it was in 2015, and it has been overwhelmed by crime, operating on deficit budgets, increasing the debt. So, now we are fiercely challenged.
And what have we done on foreign policy? Haiti is a Caricom country for which members have done little and cannot do much. Kenya and El Salvador provide security now! Caricom just does not have the means to play a meaningful role.
And what is the principle behind Government’s marginalisation of Divali Nagar and National Council of Indian Culture at home? This particular error of judgement might well alter the way people look at race, culture and politics in the future.
Now to Cuba. The Cold War kept the Caribbean at a distance at first. Then, T&T, Guyana, Barbados and Jamaica embraced Cuba in solidarity in 1962 and Caricom has opposed sanctions ever since. There is even a Cuba-Caricom Solidarity Day. In the changing geopolitical positioning now, Caricom is split three ways on whether to continue sanctions.
Caricom cannot agree on a principle and is weakened by island self-interest. We may baulk that T&T would bend to US President Trump in exchange for security, natural gas clearance, and investment assurances, but the truth is that Caricom has no well-considered, shared position. Cuba is our Caribbean complexity and America’s hemispheric vulnerability. Still, Russia took oil to Cuba. China provided solar power. Mexico shipped food. What principle divides Caricom?
And the International Criminal Court? The US was against it from the beginning on sovereignty grounds and on exposure for military personnel. Other key countries, like China, Russia and India, are also against it.
But why would we change our mind when, as a country, we were invested in its creation? There is a lot of hurt over repudiating ANR Robinson’s legacy.
Something tells me, though, that the court cannot survive in its present form. Having been a founder of the ICC, however, we cannot be unprincipled and opportunistic and simply back away.
Unless government behaviour can be tied to some principle rather than spite and sovereign surrender, it will become harder to govern T&T, even with loyal support.
Principles derive from values such as duty, accountability, truth, and consistency. These are the structural foundations that give values their weight. When such structural foundations collapse, values and principles give way to utility, tribalism and naked power, and truth disappears. A made-up story of reality is then concocted. Persuasion, repetition, and sometimes, coercion, then follow. And by the time you get to this point, it is already over.
