A closely watched recent meeting of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) foreign ministers called for the bloc’s member states to lean into “unified action” in the face of what its Secretary-General Carla Barnett characterised as an “unpredictable global landscape”, underscoring the importance of a so-called “dual approach”.

In reference to what it states is the evolving geopolitical landscape, the meeting communique (in part) conveys the following: “Ministers asserted that safeguarding Caribbean sovereignty requires a dual approach including intensifying foreign policy coordination for greater convergence to navigate great power rivalries and accelerating the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) to ensure regional food and energy security.”

Driven largely by duelling perspectives on the ‘Trump Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine, pitting Trinidad and Tobago against virtually all its sister CARICOM states, their differences are deep ‌and significant. Thus, disagreements have also arisen over traditional approaches to and broad principles informing the conduct of such small states’ international relations.