The View From Europe

It is the images that remain. First it was a photo of the political leadership of the West trying to face down an intransigent Donald Trump, and then two days later the extraordinary sight of a smiling US President standing beside an equally pleased Kim Jong Un; making it easy to forget that just a few months before, the former were close allies, while the latter was in conflict with the US.

In a week in which Caribbean tourism leaders have been meeting in New York to build on the strong growth that much of the industry is now experiencing, it may seem perverse to be writing about the sustainability of Caribbean tourism. 

Normally the private sector tends to respond to change far faster than the public sector.

Just over a week ago, Cuba and the European Union held a first Joint Council meeting.

For some years now, China has sought to deepen its relations with the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

At first sight, last week’s decision by the US President to abrogate the hard-won 2015 UN Security Council deal on nuclear weapons with Iran may seem to have little bearing on the Caribbean.

A few days ago, the British Parliament voted to compel Britain’s overseas territories (OTs) in the Caribbean to adopt public registers of company ownership.

The problem with the use of trade sanctions is that the innocent get hurt.

For years now, Caribbean High Commissioners, activists, church organisations and community oriented Caribbean companies have been raising with the British government and parliamentarians the shocking way in which undocumented members of the Caribbean diaspora who came to Britain between 1948 and 1971 have been treated.

Many months have passed since this column last addressed the issue of Brexit and what it may mean for the Caribbean and its long-standing relationship with the United Kingdom.

In just over a week’s time the Summit of the Americas will take place in Lima, Peru.

It is far from easy to separate fact from fiction when it comes to recent allegations about the effect that big data may have had on Caribbean democracy.

At the start of the month, Barbados’ former Prime Minister, Owen Arthur, officially departed the island’s Parliament and elective politics.

When it comes to harnessing the power of the Caribbean’s sizeable diaspora in North America and Europe, much of the recent emphasis has been on encouraging investment.

At the start of February, Stefano Manservisi, the Director General of the European Commission’s Development Directorate, delivered a lecture at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI).

Some years ago, a well-liked and highly respected Caribbean Ambassador regularly made the point that the region should follow more closely the issues that the OECD and the G20 were debating.

In a few days’ time, Caricom Heads of Government will meet in Haiti.

A few days ago, the Inter-national Energy Agency reported that oil production in the US was undergoing extraordinary growth.

There will likely be much written in the coming weeks about the detail contained in the long-awaited Golding Report reviewing Jamaica’s Relations with Caricom and Cariforum.

Making movies is big business. The amounts spent on a production can be substantial, running into hundreds of millions of dollars.