Despite their virtual meeting on Friday, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders were still unable to settle the contentious reappointment of Carla Barnett as secretary general, in a process which Trinidad and Tobago says was procedurally and legally flawed. Port of Spain insists that it would not acknowledge Dr Barnett’s authority after her current contract expires in mid-August.

While this issue may appear peripheral to Jamaica, it is a potentially existential crisis from which Kingston, in these geopolitically fraught times, cannot be detached. For in the topsy-turvy environment created by Donald Trump’s accelerated dismantling of the post-World War II international order, Jamaica will not thrive on its own, notwithstanding any views to the contrary, or expectations that it can cut bilateral deals to avoid the pressures of hegemons.

As blocs like the European Union (EU), and Canada’s premier Mark Carney, who has been promoting partnerships between his country and other ‘middle powers’ have emphasised, in the face of the turbulence, conglomeration makes sense. Or, as Mr Carney put it in Davos in January, if the middle powers are not at the table together, they will be “on the menu”. It is the same strategic thinking that caused France’s President Emmanuel Macron to meet with African leaders in Kenya this week.