The Impact of the Trump Presidency on the Commonwealth Caribbean

ABSTRACT

The small states of CARICOM operate within the sphere of US influence guided by its national interests. This geopolitical reality can become daunting when the major power is led by an ultra-conservative president who puts his country first at all times and has dubbed some developing countries ‘shit holes’. The domestic and foreign policies of the Trump Administration may affect CARICOM in the areas of tourism, trade, climate change, migration, remittances, regional integration and development assistance among other areas. Despite these challenges, CARCIOM should take consistent, coordinated and principled foreign policy positions towards the US, which serve their national and regional interests. In addition, these states should look to BRICS, China and the Global South as alternatives. These governments should also implement the right economic policies, educate their citizens, reduce crime and corruption, make the civil service efficient, and improve productivity and the quality of governance to enhance economic growth and development. These achievements should increase the standing of CARICOM in the world and give it leverage with the US and other international partners.

KEYWORDS:

• Trump Administration
• national interests
• CARICOM
• challenges
• foreign policy coordination
• development