Small developing countries have limited impact on international events affecting them, and usually have to act in consort with a larger group of more powerful nations to achieve anything of substance in world affairs.

Of course, Jamaica has been a small exception in that we have punched above our weight in the international community, beginning notably with leading the way as the first country in the Western Hemisphere to impose an embargo on Apartheid South Africa in 1956/57.

Jamaica has not been as high-profiled on the international front as in former years, which some have dubbed the golden years of Jamaican diplomacy — perhaps because international affairs is such a treacherous ocean of diplomatic sharks, demanding only the greatest skill and pragmatism to navigate unscathed.

But that should not cause us to forget some of the high points of Jamaican diplomacy which rightly gained us our lofty reputation. Indeed, from the moment the country joined the United Nations (UN) on September 18, 1962 as an Independent State, limitations of size and resources have not stopped Jamaica from playing an outstanding role in the UN system, helping to focus international attention on such significant matters as human rights, decolonisation, economic cooperation and indebtedness, and women’s issues.

Our representatives have frequently been elected to the governing councils of several specialised agencies and other bodies in the UN, serving with acknowledged distinction in various capacities.

In 1963, Jamaica’s then Senator Hugh Shearer proposed the celebration of an International Year of Human Rights, which was later accepted. Late Prime Minister Michael Manley won the UN Gold Medal in 1978 for his fight against Apartheid, and was acknowledged as a leader of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Group of 77.

He chaired the Lancaster House negotiations leading to Zimbabwe’s Independence in 1980. Three years earlier he was also a leader in the Gleneagles Agreement banning sporting contact with South Africa.

Late Prime Minister Edward Seaga successfully proposed at the 1987 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Vancouver, Canada, that the global community go after the South African Rand, as trade sanctions were not working.

Some believe that a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade is unimportant, but the recent assistance in evacuating Jamaican students from war-torn Ukraine proves that a professional foreign service is important.

In this respect, kudos to Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith and her team, especially our Embassy in Germany for their good work at such a critical moment. It is also a reminder that experienced diplomats are indispensable.

We have been known to fill ambassadorial posts with inexperienced political appointees. Such practices will push qualified people out of the foreign service.

It is noteworthy that only two of 12 Jamaican ambassadors to the United States have not been outsiders, and nine of 13 high commissioners to the United Kingdom have been outsiders including six politicians.

Every government rewards political activists and donors with diplomatic postings but they keep some balance by deploying them in the less important posts where they cannot do much damage.

Politics and diplomacy are too different skill sets.