News Americas, WASHINGTON, D.C., Mon. Jul 25, 2022 – The United States is Guyana’s most important bilateral relationship. The United States remains a major power in the Western Hemisphere and has significant influence around the world.
It is this influence, the potential investment from US companies, and the institutional knowledge and experience it harbors that can help Guyana achieve its own national and regional ambitions. Courting and strengthening this relationship will therefore be vital to Guyana’s future, giving the country a powerful ally while also providing a window into influencing US policy towards the Greater Caribbean. when needed.
More than in previous decades, Guyana is in a unique position in its relationship with the United States, garnering greater attention from the latter due to its emergence as an oil and gas producer. Guyana’s growing economic clout and its role as an emerging regional leader in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is increasing its relationship with the United States. While the asymmetry between the two remains huge, Guyana is bridging this gap. US policy toward the Caribbean, or CARICOM specifically, must now take Guyana into account, especially as the US outlook for the region has changed since President Joe Biden took office in 2021.
Recently, the United States has downplayed traditional security concerns in the Caribbean, focusing instead on addressing climate change and energy security. And since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has seen food prices skyrocket, food safety has been added to this list. In every area, Guyana commands attention, and the United States simply cannot accomplish its goals in the region without sufficient Guyanese involvement.
This is one of the reasons why Guyana is co-chair of the joint US-Caribbean food security committee resulting from last month’s Summit of the Americas, which recognizes the leadership role the latter is playing in reducing CARICOM’s high food import bill over its 25 years. for 25 flat. And on energy and climate change, Guyana’s longstanding protection of its forests and the future role the country will play in helping to anchor energy security for CARICOM members will make Guyana a key figure in politics. for the region in the foreseeable future.
However, some challenges stand in the way of Guyana. Despite its unprecedented economic growth, Guyana remains a small factor in US foreign policy relative to other countries in the hemisphere and abroad. Right now, political and economic crises pervade the Americas, where democratic backsliding is gaining strength and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated structural economic challenges. In many ways, Guyana’s political stability since 2020, relative to its neighbors, and booming economy have worked against each other in trying to get the attention of US lawmakers. Furthermore, Guyana’s oil and gas position is ambivalent about current US foreign policy. President Biden and his administration have declared addressing climate change as an important foreign policy position, effectively keeping Guyana at arm’s length.
Going local to strengthen Guyana’s relationship with the United States?
Despite some challenges, there are opportunities for Guyana to strengthen its relationship with the United States. The US-Guyana bilateral relationship is multidimensional, characterized by economic, political, security, and cultural ties, along with a vibrant diaspora located in key cities in New York, Florida, California, and Texas. Therefore, to capitalize on and strengthen US-Guyana ties, the country needs to go local and work more often with the US at the sub-national level.
Doing so means putting less emphasis on relationships with the US federal government and working more closely with cities, specific states, businesses, and educational institutions in the United States. At the federal level, bureaucracy can stifle policy implementation and imagination, while periodic changes every four to eight years in the US executive branch, such as in the White House and the State Department, can change drastically the political initiatives, intention and objectives of Guyana and CARICOM. . At the local level, US-Guyana ties could be seen as looser and create a deeper relationship.
First, Guyana can expand economic ties with US cities and states, especially those with high concentrations of diaspora members. As the economy grows, these cities may become new and stronger destinations for Guyanese products and services. These places, especially among members of the diaspora, can be the source markets to help boost ecotourism and, in line with President Ali’s diaspora initiative, continue to attract more investment and technical expertise to Guyana.
Second, institutions, such as the University of Guyana and the new oil and gas institutes expected to come online soon, will find a greater diversity of potential partners to choose from, especially in non-traditional areas. Guyana can look through the United States to continue building partnerships in the field of oil and gas, yes, but also in areas related to climate change, security cooperation, cultural exchanges, and financial services, among others.
Finally, going local can help Guyana ensure more continuity and longevity in US political initiatives by establishing stronger ties with the US Congress. Some members remain in power for decades, accumulating more influence among their colleagues with each passing year, which also means that the frequent policy changes that can occur in the federal government are not always enforced in the legislature. Working with these members of Congress and different committees related to foreign policy, financial services, and energy are also good opportunities for Guyana to raise issues of national interest that have a hard time reaching senior policy officials.
Strengthening relations with the United States will be critical to the development of Guyana and its short- and long-term interests. One way to do this is to go local to deepen ties between the United States and Guyana in areas of economics, education, and politics, building greater resilience in a relationship that is likely to be Guyana’s most important for decades to come.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Wazim Mowla, a Guyanese-American, Associate Director of the Caribbean Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Center for Latin America, and Non-Resident Scholar at the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy at the International University of Florida.
