A 60-day ceasefire agreed between the United States and Iran and approved through ongoing diplomatic channels was enacted in Switzerland by the main players on June 19 – and on the same day, 80 nations gathered in Ghana to unite in the continuing quest by Caribbean and African nations for Reparations from Europe for Slavery and Native Genocide.
And just a few days later on June 22 – the 78th anniversary of the arrival in London of the merchant ship ‘Windrush’ with West Indian immigrants – UK Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer became the sixth to resign in one decade.
Before the Ghana conference and Starmer’s resignation, the world’s focus was on the uncertainties regarding the MoU signed between the US and Iran and likely possibilities that Israel could blow-up the ceasefire by simply continuing its unrelenting attacks on Lebanon, in violation of Clause 1 of the 14-part agreement signed online by the US and Iran presidents on June 14th, President Trump’s 80th birthday.
Yet, while the ceasefire may offer Trump electoral advantages, another election threatens to complicate matters: Israelis go to the polls between September and October – before the US mid-term election in November.
As Lebanese civilian casualties mount past 4,000 deaths, Trump is increasingly concerned that further escalation could undermine his own efforts to (at least) be seen attempting to stabilize the region and preserve the ceasefire framework.
For Netanyahu, the stakes are also exceptionally high: beyond electoral considerations, his political future remains closely-linked to ongoing legal and political challenges that can see him jailed on charges he’s already been found guilty of in Israeli courts.
He can also be arrested and sent to The Hague to face genocide charges before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Whether Trump is willing or able to restrain Netanyahu from ordering military actions that could jeopardize the ceasefire remains uncertain, as much may depend on whether both leaders ultimately view cooperation as more-beneficial than confrontation, during a critical election year for each.
Presently, a widening gulf of mistrust exists in a relationship long-touted as unshakeable.
Whether that mistrust develops into an open political clash between Trump and Netanyahu may become one of the defining geopolitical stories of the months ahead.
But Caribbean and African focus has shifted in the past week as the world observed June 19th ‘Juneteenth’ to observe the date in 1865 when the last set of enslaved in the US learned of their freedom.
While Saint Lucia and other nations examined their relationship to the celebrated date – which also coincided with the victory of Saint Lucia’s revolution by formerly enslaved freedom fighters on June 19, 1795 – delegated from 80 nations of the Global South and North agreed in Ghana to support a united approach by the Caribbean and Africa to global reparations representation.
A revised CARICOM 10-point Plan (TPP) for Reparatory Justice (now called ‘A Manifesto for Enlightenment’) has been embraced and upgraded to reflect African and Caribbean cases for Reparations and the prospect of unity between the continent and the island region are starting to raise expectations at home, while causing natural anxiety among the nations guilty of committing The Gravest Crime Against Humanity, over centuries, to build empires on the backs, blood, sweat and tears of enslaved Africans classified as property.
A united Africa-Caribbean approach to the global quest for reparations for Slavery and Native Genocide will also require necessary public education and information campaigns about what’s in ‘The Manifesto’ and how and why it matters to all.
In the Caribbean, it will also require more be done in less time to address the matters of inclusion of the causes of Indigenous People and descendants of victims of Indentured Servitude – the latter also taking into consideration Chinese, Irish and Portuguese indentureship.
The information and public debate must address basic issues like which countries owe and how much is being sought by CARICOM and the African nations affected by trans-Atlantic chattel enslavement through the so-called ‘Great Triangle’ and ‘Middle Passage’ that gave birth to and sustained The Gravest Crime Against Humanity.
Unfortunately — here again — the Caribbean citizenry is left to treat such events as in Iran, Ghana and the UK as ‘not our business…’.
Like they did during President Trump’s unveiling of trade tariffs on the world until it started affecting imports, Caribbean consumers didn’t start worrying about the latest global energy crisis until fuel prices started rising.
But government must not leave citizens believing these developments are ‘faraway matters…’
The Trump-Netanyahu rift is widening at an unprecedented pace where neither will let the chips fall where they may.
One claims to be the boss of a new world order he’s shaping in his on image and likeness, while the other insists that, as head of the only nuclear power in the entire Arab and Middle East region, he’s taking orders from no-one.
As it stands now, neither side agrees on whether their shared cup is half-full or half-empty and each has to decide which way is up and which is down if the best way up is down – or vice versa.
But the Caribbean is and will continue to be affected come-what-may – and not only by higher prices but also by the increasing moves by Europe and the US to tighten entry by immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean, while moving to deport these same nations applicants for asylum rejected by Washington.
Similarly, the US and Europe are together attacking Caribbean Citizenship by Investment (CIP) programs while raising their drawbridges to keep Caribbean citizens out – now made worse by the possibility that Britain’s next General Elections can see an arch anti-immigrant occupying 10 Downing Street.
All-in-all, all the above is simply another master class on the nexus between global politics and international diplomacy and the resulting effects on the Global South.
And the Caribbean is part of that overall equation.