Georgetown : President David Granger issued called to the faculty and staff of the William J. Perry Centre for Hemispheric Defense Studies to provide the kind of intellectual leadership needed to promote a new era of security relations in the Caribbean Basin aimed at protecting people, perpetuating peace and preserving the planet. He made this call, while delivering the keynote address at the Centre’s 2017 Awards Ceremony on September 21. “The Caribbean Basin is a complex geographical and geopolitical region. It is vital to the USA’s strategic interests and, conversely, the USA is vital to the Caribbean’s economy and security,” the Head of State pointed out.
Speaking of the catastrophic climatic conditions of which the Caribbean region has been bearing the brunt, President Granger said that the death and destruction that resulted from the recent hurricanes are not only comparable but can be even more costly than conventional warfare.
“Climate change has emerged as a major international threat, requiring a reconceptualisation of our understanding of security to incorporate environmental hazard that threatens both human safety and state security… Hurricane Harvey was followed by Irma, another storm, 12 days later, which devastated the Caribbean island of Barbuda and by José, Katia, Lee, Maria and Norma, of varying intensities. Environmental hazards – cyclones, hurricanes, tornados or typhoons – threaten human safety. Disasters disrupt governance, damage property and infrastructure, cause death and lower citizens’ quality of life. Environmental hazards are threats to the national security of states, whether they are rich or poor, large or small, island or mainland,” he said.
In addition to devastating countries’ economies, these natural disasters also have the potential of weakening states’ security mechanisms, thereby creating total instability and chaos. President Granger explained that this will expose countries to the perils of terrorism and other transnational crimes. He also noted that security cooperation between the United States and the Caribbean, which is done under the umbrella of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), must be re-engineered to take into account the interests of the special environmental needs of small-island developing and low lying-coastal states.
“The increased frequency, ferocity and intensity of hurricanes across the Caribbean Sea promise more death, damage and destruction. The Region requires a new regime of international cooperation to make it secure and safe. Small Caribbean states, on their own, cannot respond, in an adequate and timely manner, to the scale of death, damage and destruction caused by most natural disasters. The Region requires international cooperation to promote human safety,” he said.
In this regard, the President spoke of the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which is usually among the first responders to natural disasters and noted that this responsiveness points to the need for relief to become an integral part of security cooperation in the Caribbean Basin. He also called on SOUTHCOM to continue to work with regional organisations such as the Caribbean Emergency Disaster Management Agency (CDEMA) to help the Caribbean build capacity.
“Our common interests in the ‘Basin’ require that the region become a zone of peace and a zone of development rather than a zone of disaster. The ‘hurricane era’ has made security cooperation, rather than strategic confrontation, a necessity to protect the Region’s vital interests. It is in our common interest to recognise that the stability of the Caribbean Basin is imperilled by environmental hazards; that these hazards are the greatest threats to citizens’ quality of life and that they undermine the stability of Caribbean states and the United States,” the Guyanese Head of State said.
The protection of people, preservation of the environment and the maintenance of peace and security have been major areas of focus for President Granger. It is for this reason, in his address to world leaders on Wednesday at the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, he called on all nations to recommit to fulfilling the promise of the United Nations’ (UN) Charter of ensuring a safer, sustainable future for all.
“Planet earth can provide a ‘good life’ for all. The planet can be protected from the ravages of climate change and the reckless damage to its ecology and biodiversity. A sustainable planet is humanity’s ultimate patrimony. Nothing is more vital to people’s survival. We have been indifferent too long to the need to protect the planet and now its sustainability is threatened on many fronts… The people of the world yearn “to fulfil their potential in dignity and equality and in a healthy environment” – an attainable objective of the Sustainable Development Goals endorsed by the UN. United, the nations gathered here can fulfil the promise of the UN Charter and the theme of the General Assembly to focus on people, to strive for peace and to protect the planet,” the President urged world leaders.
The Perry Centre, of which President Granger is an alumnus, is a U.S. Department of Defense institution for defense and security studies in the Western Hemisphere. Through courses, seminars, outreach, strategic dialogue, and focused research in support of policy objectives. It was born out of the first Defense Ministerial of the Americas (DMA) in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1995, a conference established by then US Secretary of Defense Mr. William J. Perry to convene defense ministers from around the hemisphere to discuss shared defense and security issues.
Former Director of the Centre, Dr. Margaret Hayes said that this mission of this organisation is to develop and present academic programmes tailored for the requirements of Latin American and Caribbean States which would stimulate both civilian and military thinking regarding defense policies, civil-military relations and a greater understanding of defense decision-making and resource management.
Every year, the Center recognises individuals and organisations that have made significant and sustained contributions advancing mutually supportive approaches to security, fostering transparent and capable defense and security governance institutions, and strengthening institutional capacity in the Americas. This year’s awardees are Dr. Marcos Pablo Moloeznick Gruer from Mexico and Mr. John Cope from the US. The Universidad Militar Nueva Granada from Columbia was the recipient of an institutional award.
While in Washington D.C. the President also met with the Chairman of the Council of Delegates of the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB), which is considered the oldest organisation dealing with military and defence matters in the world. While there, the President took the opportunity to emphasise the need for the global community to focus its efforts towards mitigating the effects of global warming through the protection of the environment, people, and the perpetuation of peace.
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