Franklin W. Knight

Practising Caribbean diplomacy in Washington is no easy task. Small, resource-scarce states vying for attention at the narcissistic centre of the self-styled "world's mightiest nation" are seldom taken seriously either individually or collectively. Moreover, it is easy to be overlooked, especially in the tumultuous aftermath of the prolonged East-West Conflict and Cold War that poisoned global diplomatic relations after World War II. The new Caribbean states were noticed by their host mostly when it mattered in the universal capitalist versus communist divide.

Washington has the largest diplomatic community in the world. The headquarters of the 35-member Organisation of American States augment the number of diplomats. It is a very political town. Many Caribbean states sensibly appoint their ambassador both to the United States and to the Organisation of American States although the required duties are entirely different. If the Caribbeanstates struggle for visibility at the White House and in the Congress of the United States, the situation is reversed in the Organisation of American States where they constitute 43 per cent of the membership and hold some very important positions.

The Caribbean has had the good fortune to have been served by a number of excellent diplomats in the last 40 years. Each Caribbean ambassador constantly performs a delicate balancing act between the interests of his or her state and the general good of the region. For no one is the balancing act more delicate than for the designated dean of the Caribbean ambassadorial corps, a title that automatically falls on the longest-serving regional diplomat. Former outstanding Jamaican ambassadors such as Keith Johnson and Dr Richard Bernal have been former deans of the Caribbean Diplomatic Corps.

Ambassador Denis Antoine of Grenada now serves not only as dean of the Caribbean corps but also as dean of all American ambassadors. An energetic individual with penetrating eyes, rapier intelligence, ready eloquence, and limitless curiosity, he carries himself with consummate grace and subtle power around the capital city.

As dean, Ambassador Antoine has specific duties in the OAS such as deputising for the secretary general. He also serves as chair of the National Coalition of Caribbean Organisations and he remains on call for various official functions specifically pertaining to Caricom. With small office staffs and multiple demands, the life of any Caribbean ambassador remains unusually hectic and demanding.

ANTOINE... dean of Caribbean Diplomatic Corps and dean of all American ambassadors

Ambassador Antoine was not to diplomacy born. Nor was he the product of any school of foreign affairs. Indeed, he never contemplated a career in diplomacy. That career was an accident for which he credits the Grenadian society and his early activism. Grenada, he claims, remains a place where a "small-country mentality has never bothered us". Although having a population of less than 100,000 it has always been extremely cosmopolitan, readily accepting people from anywhere - Trinidad, Barbados, Jamaica, Nigeria, Canada or the United States. Born and educated in St Andrew, Grenada, Antoine's vigorous championing of local parish issues caught the attention of the national government in St George's. Prime Minister Keith Mitchell invited him to serve in the consular services in Washington. He came to Washington with no preparation and little understanding of the complex diplomatic world. He was, however, an extraordinarily quick learner.

When asked about the most challenging aspects of serving in Washington, Ambassador Antoine immediately notes the tendency toward "benign neglect" by the superpowers and the patent lack of political clout and natural resources within the region. So-called frontline countries, like former colonial powers, prefer to deal with small countries as a group rather than as individual entities. That has some marked disadvantages. "One is not taken seriously when all the small countries are grouped in one bloc. To the extent that frontline countries like to talk to Caricom, a country such as Grenada does not get much attention."

In order to overcome their collective restraints, small countries are forced to be more assertive, more persevering and more creative in their execution of international diplomacy. Ambassador Antoine believes that small countries cannot follow the conventional forms of diplomacy practised by large, rich and influential countries. Caribbean ambassadors, therefore, develop an innovative craft whereby they base their positions on general principles and try to act as much as possible in unison. They also have learned that their political clout in the OAS can be efficacious both at the United Nations and when dealing with the USA.

Attitudes toward Haiti and Cuba have generated some of the most discordant and vexing issues in Washington for Caribbean ambassadors. The newly independent Caribbean states first manifested their emerging power within the OAS when they voted in the early 1970s to revoke the Cuban exclusion from the organisation instigated by the USA in 1962. Being neutral in the Cuba/USA dispute has not been easy. Nevertheless, through Caricom and the OAS, the Caribbean states have managed to maintain political equidistance between Cuba and the United States, permitting diplomatic differences without serious antagonism.

The Haitian problem is quite different from that of Cuba. Haiti, the second oldest republic in the Americas, has never established a strong civil society despite its distinctively strong culture. Its political path has been parallel rather than tangential to that of the other Caribbean states. But as a member of Caricom, the possibility of a political convergence appears more feasible than ever before.

Ambassador Antoine is a vigorous proponent of Caribbean integration, viewing this as a natural result of his island background. Grenada, he insists, has always been positively disposed toward Caribbean confederation. At the moment he sees two new impulses that will foster greater regional integration. The first is the upcoming Cricket World Cup competition. For the first time this has promoted a sort of freedom of movement within the cricket-hosting countries.
The second is the expansion and local integration of the dynamic Caribbean diaspora in the United States, Canada and Great Britain. These activities create challenges but also offer enormous possibilities for the future of the Caribbean.
Few subjects generate more spontaneous enthusiasm in this busy diplomat than cricket or Caribbean integration. Grenada and the Caribbean are well served by his office.

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