JAMAICANS like to boast that we “punch above our weight” on the international stage, meaning that we enjoy global respect disproportionate to our small size as a country with a vulnerable economy.

Indeed, the massive goodwill demonstrated by the rest of the human family, in coming to our assistance after Category 5 Hurricane Melissa devastated significant chunks of our tiny island on October 28, 2025, might be evidence that the notion is more than a boast.

Jamaica has pulled off some feats not to be expected of a tiny population with mostly poor people, perpetually challenged by lack of resources throughout wide areas of our social and economic existence.

If we say it ourselves, it is enormously spectacular to be able to produce — and at the same time too — the fastest man and fastest woman alive in Mr Usain Bolt and Mrs Elaine Thompson-Herah; the man regarded as one of the world’s greatest-ever musical artiste in Mr Robert Nesta Marley; the smallest country to play in the finals of the FIFA World Cup in 1998; as well as the first non-snowing country to participate in the Winter Olympics.

It is possible to argue that our journey to world acclaim may well have started with the slave uprisings against superior colonial forces; Mr Marcus Garvey’s launch of the global, four-million-strong Universal Negro Improvement Association; the trade embargo against Apartheid South Africa; Mr Michael Manley’s role as a Third World leader in the New International Economic Order; Mr Hugh Shearer’s successful proposal of International Human Rights Day at the United Nations; and, among others, the emergence of reggae music as a global force.

But the questions can be asked: How much good is all this in the face of an emerging world order in which the powerful countries are asserting their dominance? Can Jamaica exercise any significant influence in international diplomacy?

More interestingly, is there any value in Jamaica taking sides, with or against the United States, in the dispute with Venezuela? Or coming out against suspension of immigrant visas to the US?

As a small, developing country, there is much to learn from the new developments that are unfolding on the international stage — much of it based on the changing policies of the US Administration.

Small countries cannot operate the way powerful countries do, given the difference in strategic advantages — which mostly favour the powerful countries — and the vulnerabilities which impact mostly the weaker countries.

When Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness encouraged Jamaicans to work hard to develop Jamaica so that the island can be the place of choice to live, work, and raise families, he could not have been more right.

Powerful countries can always rely on vast resources, wield a big military stick, and have the ability to exert greater influence on other countries, while smaller countries, like Jamaica, have to seek other ways to make themselves more valuable.

We can do this by providing essential services or industries, such as tourism, that bigger countries desire; strive to excel in good governance; work to excel in quality of life; promote equanimity in sharing national resources; and develop more meaningful alliances with like-minded countries.

In other words, the goal must be to make Jamaicans happier to remain at home through improved well-being.