The African Union is demanding two permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council, a call the world can no longer ignore. But it raises a question the Caribbean has avoided for far too long. Why is no Caricom nation considered for permanent representation. Why is there still no black majority country seated at the table that decides war, peace and legitimacy.
The stakes are rising. Tension between the United States and Venezuela is escalating, and once again the Caribbean is caught between giants. Washington expects alignment. Caracas expects sympathy. But the people who would face the economic and security fallout have no meaningful voice where the real decisions are made.
This is the contradiction. Our region has one of the strongest records of democratic stability in the developing world. Peaceful elections. Predictable institutions. A long tradition of diplomacy over militarism. Yet when global power is allocated, the Caribbean is treated as an observer instead of a contributor.
It is not because we lack capacity. It is because the global system still reflects the post war hierarchy. The world has changed. The Security Council has not.
A permanent Caribbean seat would add something the Council does not have. A perspective shaped by small state survival, colonial memory and geopolitical neutrality. A voice from a region that negotiates with care because it knows what happens when powerful nations collide over smaller ones.
As Africa pushes for overdue representation, the Caribbean should not stand on the sidelines. A shared demand for reform would give weight to the wider African and Caribbean world, a population of more than 1.2 billion people who remain structurally voiceless in the forum that governs global security.
Climate shocks, territorial disputes, capital flows and military tensions increasingly run through our part of the world. Decisions about our fate are being made in a room where we have no seat, no veto & no vote.
If we continue to accept silence, we will continue to inherit the consequences.
The time has come for the Caribbean to claim its place in global governance. Not as a favour. As a fact.
Jerelle Jules is an Investment manager and Caribbean futurist focused on unlocking sustainable development and private capital across the region.
