Forcing new dialogue on UK-Caribbean foreign policy

David Jessop, Contributor

Britain has a new foreign policy. Its coalition government has begun to enunciate a more pragmatic approach that recognises the ways in which the world has changed, political and economic relationships overlap, and new centres of power are emerging.

William Hague, the United Kingdom's new foreign secretary, and a former leader of the Conservative Party, has been setting out how Britain will seek to engage with the world.

Two of four speeches have been delivered. The first provided the guidelines for the way in which Britain sees it future place in a networked world; the second addressed the role of trade in foreign policy; and while the subject of the last two has not been revealed, the absence of any details so far on climate change, defence and security, the Commonwealth, or how the United Kingdom might relate to the developing world, suggests that these may be themes to be developed.

What is interesting is that the UK's new government has a foreign secretary, William Hague, who has thought through the UK's place in the world and is putting his experience and undoubted power in government and Whitehall into a practical  foreign-policy framework.

Hague is doing so in a way that supports concerns about cutting UK expenditure, increasing income, and remaining a world player, albeit in a way different from the past.

This does not mean that the Caribbean will be any higher up Britain's agenda, but it does demonstrate that there is a ministerial interest in dialogue if Caribbean politicians can identify how to engage with Britain's understanding of the way in which the world has changed something that should not be difficult, as in certain key respects Mr Hague's views resonate with those of more thoughtful Caribbean politicians.

Sadly, the 13 years that Britain's Labour government was in power resulted in a further downgrading of the Caribbean relationship at almost every level, although it is also true to say that for the most part, Caribbean politicians failed to find ways to engage with Britain's changed approach to politics.

The consequence was disillusion with the UK and disinterest on the part of most British ministers.

Britain's Labour government should have been the Anglophone Caribbean's natural ally, given that the principles on which governments and parties in the English-speaking Caribbean based their thinking originated in the philosophy and ideals of the British Labour Party of the 1950s.

Cross-cutting themes

But all of this ran into the sand with the failure of Tony Blair to meet and engage with Caribbean prime ministers early in his time in office; his decision to side with the United States and invade Iraq; the creation of a foreign policy focused on cross-cutting themes; the prioritisation of larger global markets for trade; the multilateralisation of development assistance; and the turning away from the Commonwealth.

All confirmed that the Caribbean was at the margins of UK thinking; a development not helped by the failure of Caribbean politicians to develop a new narrative for the region, achieve regional integration or mobilise its sizeable diaspora in Britain.

The dénouement was perhaps the decision taken in Cancún early this year when the Caribbean voted with Latin America on 'Argentina's legitimate rights' in respect of the Falkland Islands.

These comments are not intended to be partisan but rather are observations that suggest that as the UK develops a new policy, nations from Trinidad to Jamaica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic, should look closely at what Britain's new foreign secretary is saying, and identify whether it provides openings for a different type of dialogue.

Space does not permit me to describe in detail the new approach, but in a speech that deserves reading fully - available at www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?view=Speech&id=22462590 - the British foreign secretary said that Britain will deliver a distinctive foreign policy that recognises "the world has changed and if we do not change with it, Britain's role is set to decline with all that that means for our influence in world affairs, our national security and our economy"

In it, he also observed in some detail that economic power and opportunity were now located in the East and South; international decision making involved many more states than in the past; security issues had become more complex; the nature of conflict was changing; and formal and informal networks influencing decision making required new forms of engagement by governments.

There was understandably no specific reference to the Caribbean, but the British foreign secretary did speak about the Commonwealth, indicating that he believed that the value of the Commonwealth had previously been overlooked, and made clear that there would be a greater focus on geography, bilateral engagement with emerging powers, and regional movements, while recognising the fluid and overlapping nature of global networks that now exist.

From a Caribbean perspective, there are already signs that there will be an improved dialogue.

In the weeks following the UK election, the premiers of the British Virgin Islands and Cayman and a delegation from the Turks and Caicos Islands came to London.

In each case, not only did the new minister responsible for the UK's relations with Overseas Territories see them, but each group left with a sense that there was a dialogue led by ministers; that what was well founded and wanted could be agreed; and that there was a renewed basis for trust.

Signs of support

In a quite different context, Britain noticeably immediately welcomed Cuba's decision to release prisoners as a result of dialogue with the Catholic Church, and is showing a real interest in improving its trade and investment and relationship with the Dominican Republic.

What this points to is the need for the Anglophone Caribbean to choose a moment to take the temperature, to understand from the UK's diplomats how policy is changing, and consider how best to engage through initiatives related to investment, trade and a dialogue about where small states and their civil institutions might fit with Britain's recognition of a networked world of changing alliances and relationships.

David Jessop is director of the Caribbean Council. david.jessop@caribbean-council.org