Will the new WTO Director General be able to revive multilateralism?
London, England — A few days ago, the Nigerian-American economist, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was appointed to lead the 164 nation Geneva-based World Trade Organisation (WTO)....
David Jessop
Has the EU-CARIFORUM EPA worked?
London, England – More than a decade has passed since the EU-CARIFORUM Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) was negotiated and signed. The free-trade agreement with Europe...
It’s time to abandon sanctions on Cuba
London, England — In the dying days of the Trump Presidency, the US State Department designated Cuba a ‘State Sponsor of Terrorism’. Regrettably, the measure...
Britain and Europe: The moment of truth
London, England — Very soon, possibly by the time that this column is read, the European Union and Britain will have decided on the nature...
What future now for Venezuela?
London, England – It is hard to know what the future holds for Venezuela, its opposition leader Juan Guaidó, or the present US-led policy that...
Protest, climate change and the environment
London, England – Intensely national in character, environmental protest is on the rise across the Caribbean. From French Guiana, to Suriname, Guyana, Barbados, Antigua, Belize,...
Democracy alone is not enough
London, England – This was the year when much of the Caribbean went to the polls. General elections were held in Anguilla, Belize, Jamaica, the...
The next COVID-challenge – mass immunization
London, England — In the last few days, Pfizer BioNTech, a German-US company, and the US company, Moderna have separately announced that the COVID-19 vaccines...
The US and the Caribbean: time to seize the moment
London, England – It is easy to share the excitement felt across the Caribbean at President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the US polls. However, a...
Cruise lines facing a much-changed future
London, England — From Bridgetown’s Carlisle Bay to England’s south west coastal town of Weymouth, cruise ships berthed offshore and out of service have become...
Partnerships are always better than hostility
London, England — A few days ago, the US Ambassador in Kingston, Donald Tapia, gave an exclusive interview to the Jamaica Observer. In it he...
Who will deliver the structural changes the pandemic has highlighted?
London, England — A little earlier this month, the University of the West Indies’ Shridath Ramphal Centre, published a policy paper that called for a...
Under US leadership the IDB develops an ‘Americas First’ strategy
London, England — In his first address, IDB’s new President said that his appointment would lead to a stronger commitment from the US to support...
Can mineral extraction ever be environmentally acceptable?
London, England — In August, the price of gold reached a record high of US$2,073 per ounce. It did so as investors concerned about the...
Washington consolidates it position in the Caribbean
London, England — Speaking recently at Bocas Lit Fest, Jamaica’s former Prime Minister, P.J Patterson, observed that in recent years there had been a “deliberate...
The pandemic offers the opportunity to transform tourism’s role
London, England — Despite the understandable desire by some in tourism to talk up a ‘return to normal’, it is hard to avoid the conclusion...
Time to repurpose the Caribbean public sector
London, England — Over the last twelve months the Caribbean has been able to demonstrate through the ballot box that its democracies remain strong. Despite...
Why vaccine nationalism should concern the Caribbean
London, England — How well prepared is the Caribbean to respond to the politically-led emergence of ‘vaccine nationalism’, an approach likely to see countries with...
A cold wind is blowing from the north
London, England — Whether it chooses to take sides or not, the Caribbean is about to find itself swept up into the now almost inevitable...
Tax holidays can help aviation and tourism recover
London, England — After years of failing to find a way to reconcile whether LIAT, the Antigua based carrier, primarily serves the interests of shareholder...