The world is in big trouble
The World Around Us
The world is in big trouble
World leaders have assembled in New York for the 77th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly (UNGA). The Assembly opened on September 13,...
September 23, 2022
End of the Elizabethan Era
The World Around Us
End of the Elizabethan Era
The death of Queen Elizabeth II on 8th September 2022 has been a sad occasion for many, none more so than her immediate family for whom she was not ju...
September 16, 2022
Winter is coming!
The World Around Us
Winter is coming!
THE EXPRESSION “Winter is Coming” was popularised first in George R. R. Martin’s book “A Song of Ice and Fire,” then by the television series “Game of...
September 9, 2022
Responding to the Cost-of-Living Crisis
The World Around Us
Responding to the Cost-of-Living Crisis
In a July 2022 report, the United Nations (UN), said that 71 million people across the globe have been pushed into poverty because of the cost-of-livi...
September 2, 2022
Kicking away the ladder to development
The World Around Us
Kicking away the ladder to development
How did the rich countries today get rich? There is no single answer to this question. However, what is apparent is that they used certain policy tool...
August 26, 2022
Marching towards the brink of global conflict
The World Around Us
Marching towards the brink of global conflict
History provides a powerful reminder of the devastating consequences of war. The world must never forget that war is a great tragedy which unleashes a...
August 19, 2022
Reconstructing the World Order
The World Around Us
Reconstructing the World Order
The current state of global affairs is largely unacceptable. Sky high energy prices, runaway inflation, choked supply chains, military conflicts, the ...
August 12, 2022
Geopolitical Fault-lines Widen over Taiwan
The World Around Us
Geopolitical Fault-lines Widen over Taiwan
Last week, I wrote that “the world’s largest geopolitical fault lines exist between the United States (US) and China.” This point has been further emp...
August 5, 2022
Navigating Today’s Geopolitics
The World Around Us
Navigating Today’s Geopolitics
Geopolitics concerns the strategic implications of economics, politics, power and geographic space. Essentially, it helps us to better understand the ...
July 29, 2022
Debt sentence
The World Around Us
Debt sentence
A record number of countries, all of them developing nations, are now at risk of economic collapse. Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Suriname and Zambia have defau...
July 22, 2022
Lessons from Sri Lanka
The World Around Us
Lessons from Sri Lanka
FOR MONTHS NOW, Sri Lanka has been gripped by economic, political and social disturbance. Last weekend, the world saw images of thousands of protester...
July 15, 2022
CARICOM at 49
The World Around Us
CARICOM at 49
ON 4TH JULY, the Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) celebrated the signing of the original Treaty of Chaguaramas which established the...
July 8, 2022
A world upside down
The World Around Us
A world upside down
The international conference circuit is currently abuzz. Two weeks ago, trade ministers or their representatives met in Geneva, Switzerland for the Wo...
July 1, 2022
WTO exceeds expectations
The World Around Us
WTO exceeds expectations
Such is the fractured nature of multilateralism that when multilateral bodies meet, expectations are low for concrete outcomes to emerge. Therefore, h...
June 24, 2022
A Commonwealth for the 21st Century
The World Around Us
A Commonwealth for the 21st Century
The long delayed (on account of COVID-19) Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), 2022 takes place 20-25 June 2022, in Kigali, Rwanda. Accor...
June 17, 2022
Spotlight on Summit of the Americas
The World Around Us
Spotlight on Summit of the Americas
The United States (US), will host the ninth summit of the Americas from 6–10 June 2022, with the objective of building a sustainable, resilient, and e...
June 3, 2022
Liberal order faces a stress test
The World Around Us
Liberal order faces a stress test
THE World Economic Forum (WEF) started its annual maeeting on 23 May, 2022 in Davos, a small ski town high in the Swiss alps. The WEF espouses values ...
May 27, 2022
Diffusion of Responsibility
The World Around Us
Diffusion of Responsibility
DIFFUSION of responsibility, otherwise known as the bystander effect, occurs when people fail to act, instead expecting that someone else will do what...
May 20, 2022
Pressure can burst a pipe or make a diamond
The World Around Us
Pressure can burst a pipe or make a diamond
“Pressure made the diamond,” entertainer Diana Ross said in 1971. “And pressure busts pipes, you know,” San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman Gary Joh...
May 13, 2022
A New World of Work
The World Around Us
A New World of Work
International Workers’ Day, better known as May Day or Labour Day, is observed yearly on 1st May. The history of May Day goes back over 160 years ago,...
May 6, 2022
Adapting to Scarcity
The World Around Us
Adapting to Scarcity
Billionaire, Elon Musk’s bid to take over the popular social network – Twitter, dominated the international news cycle this week, providing some momen...
April 29, 2022
Moment of Truth for the United Nations
The World Around Us
Moment of Truth for the United Nations
When the United Nations (UN) was founded in 1945 after World War II, its members made a commitment to maintaining international peace and security, de...
April 22, 2022
Heightened Risk of Global Recession
The World Around Us
Heightened Risk of Global Recession
The global economy appears to be heading towards a major step back by the end of 2022. According to the Peterson Institute for International Economics...
April 14, 2022
The future of the global economy
The World Around Us
The future of the global economy
The centre of gravity of the world economy has gradually shifted from the Atlantic to Asia. However, the war in Ukraine has cast doubts on many projec...
April 8, 2022
The Tenets of Happiness
The World Around Us
The Tenets of Happiness
In the past two years alone, people around the world have had to contend with wars, a pandemic, storms, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, civil strife and...
April 1, 2022
The new Cold War
The World Around Us
The new Cold War
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, followed by Western sanctions on and diplomatic isolation of Russia have brought into sharp focus the possibility that a...
March 11, 2022
Vestiges of Empire
The World Around Us
Vestiges of Empire
Tensions in Europe continue to mount over the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis. Last week, in a sign of possible de-escalation, Russia announced that it ...
February 25, 2022
Ray of sunshine in Russia-Ukraine standoff
The World Around Us
Ray of sunshine in Russia-Ukraine standoff
For weeks, Russia has amassed over one hundred thousand troops at its border with Ukraine. This has sent security, political and economic jitters thro...
February 18, 2022
Till debt do us part
The World Around Us
Till debt do us part
The national debt level of a country is a measure of how much the government owes its creditors. Economists are generally divided on the question of h...
February 11, 2022
From Crisis to Transformation: Part 2
The World Around Us
From Crisis to Transformation: Part 2
As Winston Churchill, former British Prime Minister, was working to help form the United Nations (UN) after World War II (WWII), he famously said, “Ne...
February 4, 2022
From Crisis to Transformation: Part: 1
The World Around Us
From Crisis to Transformation: Part: 1
Earlier this week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised its global economic outlook for 2022. According to the IMF, global growth is expected...
January 28, 2022
Future-Gazing into 2022: Part 2
The World Around Us
Future-Gazing into 2022: Part 2
Last week’s article focused on three of the biggest challenges facing the world in 2022, namely the onward march of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) p...
January 14, 2022
Future-Gazing into 2022: Part 1
The World Around Us
Future-Gazing into 2022: Part 1
With 2021 behind us, many are now focusing on what we can reasonably expect over the next 12 months. In this regard, individuals, businesses, organisa...
January 7, 2022
Ubuntu
The World Around Us
Ubuntu
Ubuntu is a Southern African word which means “humanity.” It is often translated as “I am because we are” or “I am because you are.” In his book “No F...
December 31, 2021
The Stuff of Greatness
The World Around Us
The Stuff of Greatness
Roy Lewis, also known as “Mystic Prowler” or “Mighty Prowler”, was a Vincentian born Trinidadian calypsonian who was crowned the Calypso King of Trini...
December 23, 2021
The End of History? – Thirty years later
The World Around Us
The End of History? – Thirty years later
DECEMBER 26, 1991, saw the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). This brought an end to the 70-year Soviet experiment with Co...
December 17, 2021
COVID-19 and Deglobalization
The World Around Us
COVID-19 and Deglobalization
Globalization is not new as some would contend, since it has been a reality for millennia. For thousands of years, civilizations have interacted acros...
December 10, 2021
What’s in a Republic?
The World Around Us
What’s in a Republic?
As of 30th November, on the 55th anniversary of its independence, Barbados became the fifth Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country to become a republic...
December 3, 2021
Less Bang for the Buck
The World Around Us
Less Bang for the Buck
Economists normally define inflation as a general rise in prices and a fall in the purchasing value of money. In other words, prices rise, and consume...
November 26, 2021
Long road ahead for climate justice
The World Around Us
Long road ahead for climate justice
The United Nations (UN) Climate Change Summit (COP26) wrapped up in Glasgow, Scotland, on 12th November 2021. At times, it is difficult to keep cynici...
November 19, 2021
Financing Climate Mitigation and Adaptation
The World Around Us
Financing Climate Mitigation and Adaptation
With the United Nations (UN) climate change conference in Glasgow in full flow, it is being subject to the customary attention deficit media blitz. Af...
November 12, 2021
G20 (Mis)Leads the Way
The World Around Us
G20 (Mis)Leads the Way
The Group of 20 (G20) leaders met in Rome on 30th and 31st October 2021. In their own words, the leaders met in an effort to address the most pressing...
November 5, 2021
Uniting The World to Tackle Climate Change
The World Around Us
Uniting The World to Tackle Climate Change
From 31 October to 12 November, the United Kingdom (UK) will host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland. T...
October 29, 2021
Global Headwinds are Coming
The World Around Us
Global Headwinds are Coming
AROUND LATE April/ early May 2020, the price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil had fallen to negative US$40. At the time of writing, WTI...
October 22, 2021
One for the Team
The World Around Us
One for the Team
In my final match as an under 15 cricketer, I had bowling figures of 10 overs, 39 runs and 6 wickets. One of the wickets was the result of a brilliant...
October 15, 2021
Pandora’s Box
The World Around Us
Pandora’s Box
A pandora’s box was opened earlier this week when the financial affairs of some of the most powerful political and business leaders in the world began...
October 8, 2021
China’s debt problem
The World Around Us
China’s debt problem
There was a time when the phrase “when America sneezes, the world catches a cold” was quite common and certainly rang true. This simply meant that wha...
September 24, 2021
Facts, misinformation and disinformation
The World Around Us
Facts, misinformation and disinformation
WE LIVE IN an age of information. Since the beginning of human civilisation, the current generation has perhaps been the most fortunate as it relates ...
September 17, 2021
A Development Agenda for a World in Crisis
The World Around Us
A Development Agenda for a World in Crisis
WE LIVE IN AN age of global pandemics, economic shocks, endless wars, a climate crisis, an environmental emergency, extreme income inequality and soci...
September 3, 2021
The American Paradox
The World Around Us
The American Paradox
POUND FOR POUND, America remains the world’s most powerful country. It has the most powerful military, the largest economy and massive amounts of soft...
August 27, 2021
Afghanistan is at an inflection point
The World Around Us
Afghanistan is at an inflection point
The speed with which the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of the bulk of American forces caught many by surprise, includi...
August 20, 2021
Climate Change is not an Unstoppable Force
The World Around Us
Climate Change is not an Unstoppable Force
THE NOVEL coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has imprinted itself on our consciousness to the extent that it makes it easy to forget that there are other...
August 13, 2021
Adapt or Die
The World Around Us
Adapt or Die
AT 1.2 or 1.3 degrees Celsius (?) above preindustrial levels, planet earth is hotter now than it has ever been in the history of human civilisation. W...
August 6, 2021
Pegasus is Watching
The World Around Us
Pegasus is Watching
In Greek mythology, Pegasus is a winged horse and the servant of the Greek god, Zeus. In late antiquity, Pegasus’ flight was also interpreted as an al...
July 30, 2021
Can anyone help Haiti?
The World Around Us
Can anyone help Haiti?
I have had some robust discussions about the situation in Haiti in recent days. In last week’s article, I suggested that the international community s...
July 23, 2021
How does Haiti move forward?
The World Around Us
How does Haiti move forward?
AS I WRITE, I am mindful of the Jura mountains in the background, which demarcate part of the French-Swiss border. These mountains are partly signific...
July 16, 2021
Is America back?
The World Around Us
Is America back?
TO QUESTION whether America is back suggests that it had moved away from a place where it would have ordinarily been found. For many decades, America ...
July 6, 2021
China’s Communist Party turns 100
The World Around Us
China’s Communist Party turns 100
ON JULY 1st, 2021, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will mark 100 years of existence. Of these 100 years, the CCP has been the sole governing party o...
June 29, 2021
Is a global minimum tax needed?
The World Around Us
Is a global minimum tax needed?
THE ERA OF LOW TAXES, particularly low corporate taxes, appears to be coming to an end, or at least, it seems to be under even greater scrutiny. As I ...
June 22, 2021
Key Takeaways from G-7 Summit
The World Around Us
Key Takeaways from G-7 Summit
Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) held their 47th summit from 11-13 June in Cornwall, United Kingdom (UK). The core members of the G7 are Australia, ...
June 15, 2021
Reparations and Justice
The World Around Us
Reparations and Justice
WRITING FOR THE Brookings Institution in April 2020, Rashawn Ray and Andre Perry, both American academics, referred to reparations as a system of redr...
June 8, 2021
Seizing the benefits of Fintech solutions
The World Around Us
Seizing the benefits of Fintech solutions
JULIA KAGAN, former editor of Consumer Reports, defines financial technology (Fintech) as new technology that seeks to improve and automate the delive...
June 1, 2021
Oppression, dispossession and powerlessness
The World Around Us
Oppression, dispossession and powerlessness
THERE IS A Vincentian calypso which was rendered a few decades ago with the line “No man is free until all men are free everywhere.” By this token, no...
May 18, 2021
‘To win tomorrow, we have to lose today’
The World Around Us
‘To win tomorrow, we have to lose today’
Unrest in Colombia has become the latest trending topic, making international headlines both on social media and in the international press. Steven Os...
May 11, 2021
The end of the ‘Forever War’
The World Around Us
The end of the ‘Forever War’
THE multi-generational United States (US) War against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan is drawing to a close. The final phase of ending what se...
May 4, 2021
Addressing the climate conundrum
The World Around Us
Addressing the climate conundrum
ON 22-23 APRIL 2021, President Joseph Biden of the United States (US) convened a virtual climate summit of 40 world leaders; among them the Honourable...
April 27, 2021
A broken, battered world
The World Around Us
A broken, battered world
THE FORMER English philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, wrote in his 1651 book, Leviathan, that in the natural state of humankind, life is nasty, brutish, and ...
March 23, 2021
The Case for a more Inclusive Multilateralism
The World Around Us
The Case for a more Inclusive Multilateralism
IN ITS STRICTEST sense, multilateralism refers to cooperation between three or more countries. However, many readily associate it with cooperation amo...
March 2, 2021
WTO gets first African and female boss
The World Around Us
WTO gets first African and female boss
Roughly one week ago, the World Trade Organization (WTO) confirmed Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as its new Director-General (DG). Dr. Okonjo-Iweala previou...
February 23, 2021
A Lockdown is not a Panacea to end CoVID-19
The World Around Us
A Lockdown is not a Panacea to end CoVID-19
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), extensive physical distancing measures and movement restrictions, often referred to as ‘lockdowns’, ...
February 16, 2021
Vaccine Nationalism is a Zero-Sum Game
The World Around Us
Vaccine Nationalism is a Zero-Sum Game
A YEAR AGO, developing a vaccine to combat the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic by the end of 2020 seemed like an impossible task. Afterall, base...
February 9, 2021
Caribbean-US Relations in the Biden Era
The World Around Us
Caribbean-US Relations in the Biden Era
Now that the Biden Administration has begun, one would imagine that just about every country, region and major international organisation is positioni...
February 2, 2021
From crisis to opportunity
The World Around Us
From crisis to opportunity
GOOD NEWS SEEMS scarce now as the world continues to reel from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Vaccine candidates which were given emergenc...
January 19, 2021
Profiles in Courage
The World Around Us
Profiles in Courage
In 1956, then Senator John F. Kennedy, who eventually became President of the United States (US), was given credit for authoring a volume of short bio...
January 12, 2021
The Bridge to Nowhere
The World Around Us
The Bridge to Nowhere
I recently came across the story of the Choluteca Bridge. The Choluteca Bridge is a suspension bridge located in Choluteca, Honduras. It was first con...
January 5, 2021
The Clock is Ticking on Brexit
The World Around Us
The Clock is Ticking on Brexit
At the time of writing, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, had just hours prior, agreed to e...
December 15, 2020
The world needs strong regionalism
The World Around Us
The world needs strong regionalism
Regionalism can be a building block for a better world. When there is cooperation within and across regions in areas such as trade, investment, the en...
December 8, 2020
The UK’s Fork in the Road moment
The World Around Us
The UK’s Fork in the Road moment
Circumstances appear to have conspired to place the United Kingdom (UK) in limbo on many fronts. Like the rest of the world, it is dealing with the gl...
December 1, 2020
The Sun Rises in the East
The World Around Us
The Sun Rises in the East
In geopolitics today, as it occurs in nature, the sun rises in the East. Here, I am specifically referring to the East-Asia region which is now one of...
November 24, 2020
Is history repeating itself in Ethiopia?
The World Around Us
Is history repeating itself in Ethiopia?
In 1994, the world stood by and did very little as ethnic conflict in Rwanda caused the killing of over 800,000 people, the majority of them innocent ...
November 17, 2020
News
100 tax dodgers on the government’s radar
News
100 tax dodgers on the government’s radar
Government will soon be moving to collect outstanding tax payment from defaulters. “We are going to be more aggressive about collecting,” Minister of ...
September 27, 2022

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Editorial
Will a National Hall of Fame help?
Editorial
Will a National Hall of Fame help?
A COUPLE WEEKS AGO, one of our biggest national heroes of the past, national football icon, captain and coach Rudy Boucher passed away in NewYork afte...
September 27, 2022
End of an Era, but will it be ‘Same Old’
Editorial
End of an Era, but will it be ‘Same Old’
BRITAIN’S SECOND Queen Elizabeth was conveyed to her final resting place yesterday, Monday, September 19 with unprecedented pomp, splendour and solemn...
September 20, 2022
Opinion
Relationship advice can be fraught with danger
Our Readers' Opinions
Relationship advice can be fraught with danger
EDITOR: Giving relationship advice is fraught with many dangers. Let me explain. Say Sharon approaches you and shares with you how horrible Gavin is t...
September 27, 2022
Your Account is Dormant, what does this mean?
Our Readers' Opinions
Your Account is Dormant, what does this mean?
This is definitely poor customer service. Making an account dormant is the last resort that any financial institution should take. When customers inte...
September 23, 2022
The Catastrophe of Plastic
Our Readers' Opinions
The Catastrophe of Plastic
Editor: The entire world is addicted to plastic. This addiction is crystal clear and it is very easy to find. Have a look at the condition of some of ...
September 23, 2022
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