Former St Vincent PM Ralph Gonsalves on Monday advocated for CARICOM to adopt a strategy of “creative resistance” as a middle path between two extreme and undesirable approaches to international relations, particularly concerning the United States.
Gonsalves argues that CARICOM must avoid two extremes on a strategic continuum;
• Spineless Surrender: He rejects “rolling over and playing dead” or accepting the “Donro doctrine” (the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine), which he claims would transform independent Caribbean parliaments into “local government assemblies” and lead to a form of “neo-colonialism”. Conversely, he argues against a strategy of “permanent resistance” to American dominance on every single issue, characterizing it as “ill-advised” and “unrealistic”.
The ex pm noted that Creative resistance occupies the “wide swath of negotiable options” between these two points, allowing independent nations to “survive and thrive” through mature engagement, strategic compromises, and the construction of partnerships for peace and security.
Gonsalves notes a critical distinction in the region’s power dynamics: while Caribbean nations lack the “asymmetrical power” to determine global outcomes, they do possess the authority and power to “reject undesirable demands from hegammons asserting that Creative resistance involves:
• Rejecting existential threats: If a demand is “existential” to the nation, it must be rejected outright.
• Accepting “settled dissatisfaction”: On matters that are not existential, Gonsalves suggests that the region can occasionally acquiesce to certain conditions—even if they are unhappy with them—as a form of strategic compromise.
For this strategy to work, Gonsalves states that CARICOM needs: High-Quality Leadership: It requires “transformative leadership” that is not “weak or transactional”. Unified and Informed Population: The leadership must act in communion with a “politically conscious and united people” focused on achievable goals and Regional Unity: He emphasizes that the “independent path” through creative resistance is only possible through “deeper regional unity”.
Gonsalves admits that this path is currently “grievously threatened” by the redefined “Trumpian new world order,” yet he maintains it is the “only one worth fighting for” to protect the authenticity and sovereignty of Caribbean civilization.