CARICOM : NO HALF MEASURES

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Professor Tennyson Joseph

One Caribbean Nation.

ALL AH WE IS ONE


THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2026. DAILY NATION BARBADOS

 
AS THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF CARICOM moves to the Prime Minister of St Lucia, Philip J. Pierre, it does so in a moment where the most open and direct threats to secede are being made by certain sections of Caribbean leadership. These threats should not be brushed aside as a temporary descent into anti-diplomacy on the part of a loose-tongued generation of Caribbean leadership, but should be understood as part of broader global structural shifts of which the “rethinking” of CARICOM is only a small part. The collapse of the post-World War II order, and the United States’ intent on reshaping its role in the Western Hemisphere even while it strategically withdraws from “global leadership”, are at the centre of these anti-CARICOM noises. Put bluntly, had there been no “Trumpism”, there would have been no Kamla Persaud-Bissessar quarrel with CARICOM. Given the seriousness of the moment, the current CARICOM phase being ushered in by the St Lucia deliberations should be treated as an extraordinary moment demanding extraordinary responses. 
 Good opportunity
 While the positive energy which has pervaded the assumption of Pierre represents a good opportunity to “reset CARICOM”, as argued recently by veteran journalist Julian Rogers, it would be a mistake to assume that the way forward for CARICOM is the pursuit of “small deeds” minus bold aspirations. 
 However, despite the potentially ground-shifting nature of the current moment, there appears to be two dominant responses from the main actors in CARICOM.
 First, there is a pretence at “nothing to see here” normalcy. Those in this tendency exhibit strong doses of “false consciousness”, since their actions do not match reality. 
The second approach is from those claiming to be “pragmatic”. They insist that CARICOM should pursue a “minimal programme”, since the situation is too delicate for any big gestures. 
They take comfort in completing elusive basic tasks like “regional travel”. They see themselves as “saving CARICOM” by “working on the issues that have been ignored”. This seems to be the dominant narrative being prepared for what is likely to be the main feature of the St Lucia chairmanship.
 However, none of these approaches fully addresses the deep structural issues that have brought us to the current moment. The way forward for CARICOM is for the emergence of an uncompromising, radical, committed core willing to articulate and organise for a deeper programme of integration never experienced in the region. It requires the presence of a vanguard organisation committed to the pursuit of a federal sovereign state as its sole purpose. 
 The Caribbean people need a new sovereign political arrangement beyond the limited, single state independence inherited at Independence. This cannot be achieved by the familiar “small technical detail”, bureaucratic approach. A new sovereign nation state of the West Indian people arising out of the dust of the currently collapsing world order is the only solution. 
Tennyson Joseph is associate professor of political science at North Carolina Central University.
 Email tjoe2008@live.com 

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