UWI war agenda

The Russian invasion, continued occupation and perpetration of atrocities in Ukraine are influencing the teaching and research agenda of the University of the West Indies.

At the same time, the Faculty of Social Sciences on the Jamaican campus at UWI Mona, where academic work on the implications of the recent global developments is already under way, has provided a platform for a noted Jamaican diplomat to chide Caribbean governments on their perceived departure from what are regarded as best practice international relations principles.

“Dr Christine Clarke, an economist in the Department of Economics, is exploring work on the role of the International Monetary Fund and implications of the war on supply chain, the cost of oil, the effects on commodity prices, and the general cost of living,” Dr Lisa Vasciannie, unit head for the international relations department and associate dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at UWI Mona told the Financial Gleaner in emailed comments.

“Dr Suzette Haughton, professor of security and international relations, conducts research on war studies, international law, the legality of the use of force by states, issues of nuclear war, etc,” she said.

The war has also provided the backdrop for a deeper probe into the shifting power dynamics in the international system by graduate students being supervised by Dr Vasciannie.

“For instance, is Russia attempting to restore what it perceives to be the correct world order?” Vasciannie said.

The comments of the UWI academic follow a recent seminar held virtually by the faculty examining the political and economic implications of the war for the Caribbean and exercise of international relations.

As the war casts a long shadow, Clarke, who, apart from teaching and research, sits on the board of the central bank, said at the March 15 seminar that some of the possible effects on Jamaica and other economies of the Caribbean could be in the form of the diversion of international and multilateral aid and development attention away from the region as a priority and towards other issues and nations closer to the Russia-Ukraine war.

She noted that the European Union, for example, traditionally a major source of budgetary support for Jamaica, now has its hands full dealing with financing other issues arising from the war.

In an environment laden with risks and uncertainty, the world is watching, she added, to see if there will be debt defaults and how those would be handled, even as growth prospects remain hinged on how long the war continues and whether there are escalations in the fighting and economic sanctions arising from it.

Clarke remarked that the posturing and threats being exchanged between the United States and China could have implications for any further widening of economic sanctions to include China. This, she pointed out, could have devastating impacts for Jamaica’s many important infrastructure development projects being undertaken by Chinese firms, with significant repercussions on employment and economic growth.

Other potential second- and third-round effects, she suggested, which may not be discernible now, but could emerge later, even as economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic remained a central preoccupation of regional governments.

“Social protection is going to remain a major plank of any economic policy in the region because of these live-wire issues that could mushroom into more significant challenges for the region,” Clarke said.

“What we are seeing are conservative interventions, where we can make some long-term strategic changes in our economy,” said the UWI economist, whose areas of specialisation include public finance.

Professor Suzette Haughton, an expert on security and international relations and head of UWI Mona’s Department of Government, noted that the underpinning of the war centred on balance-of-power factors with important economic and political implications for the Caribbean.

Apart from the shortage of goods and high prices from supply chain shocks, she posited that the global situation is giving focus to the need for more investments in agriculture and food security, more support for start-up businesses, the acquisition of technology, and a pivot to more healthy lifestyles, among other solutions.

Meanwhile, speaking at the forum, former Jamaican diplomat Ambassador Curtis Ward had strong words for Caribbean governments even as he pointed out that their commitment to certain core principles was being put to the test by the Russia-Ukraine war.

Those principles, he said, include support for United Nations charter, human rights and protection of the vulnerable, advocacy for effective responses to humanitarian crises, accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity, the sanctity of human lives in conflict zones, the protection of women and children in situations of war, the defence and promotion of the right of all people to self-determination, the freedom of sovereign nations to choose their preferred form of government, the sovereignty of states, and the sacredness of territorial integrity.

“Caribbean governments used to speak with one voice. But I am not as sure as I used to be that all Caribbean leaders will adhere to these core principles and will act accordingly even when it is inconvenient to do so,” said Ward.

“In recent years, there has emerged an erosion of core principles in the policies we have seen coming from some Caribbean capitals, and these core principles now seem to be mere talking points used on certain occasions,” the former Jamaican representative to the UN said.

Ward suggested that the crisis in eastern Europe still has the potential to erupt into a world war, providing an opportunity for Caribbean governments to recommit to core principles.

“In the context of today’s global crisis, these principles can provide Caribbean governments with the moral authority to navigate the shark-infested waters of competing geopolitical and competing interests in their conduct of international relations. At this time of global challenges and instability, governments of the region would be wise to return to these principles as a shield to protect their own sustainability as small vulnerable independent sovereign countries,” said the international affairs consultant.

“Caribbean countries must seize on available opportunities to build partnerships along shared interests,” he said.

huntley.medley@gleanerjm.com