Topic of the Month

Analyse the difference between NATO’s reaction to civil unrest in Libya as compared to that of Yemen.

 Author: Amanda Wong

                 Intercultural Communication Student

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on April 4^th 1949. The NATO headquarters is located in Brussels Belgium, and the organization constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. This Alliance consists of 28 independent member countries.

            In relation to the civil unrest in Libya, on March 27 2011, NATO announced that they would take command over military operations from the U.S. and all other ongoing military operations in Libya. The Parliament of Turkey, which is NATO's only Muslim member state, has authorized the government to participate in military operations in Libya, including the no-fly zone. According to an Agence France-Presse reporter in Sirte, the reason for the no-fly zone was as a result of nine blasts that rocked the coastal town as planes were heard above. In addition, according to NATO’s Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the goal of NATO’s Operation Unified Protector (OUP) is “to protect civilians and civilian-populated areas under threat of attack from the Qaddafi regime.” This entails: (1) enforcing a UN-mandated arms embargo; (2) enforcing a no-fly zone over Libyan territory; and (3) protecting civilians and civilian population areas from being attacked by military forces from the Qaddafi regime.  

On the other hand, due to civil unrest in Yemen, NATO is very silent on any intention to intervene, in order to help curb or eliminate the violence in Yemen. NATO has not even made an attempt to discuss the matter as they did for Libya. Even though it was expected that NATO would have been involved in all the countries experiencing civil unrest in the Middle East.

            The reason for NATO’s non-involvement in Yemen, is due to the fact that they do not have anything to benefit from Yemen. Oil reserves in Libya are the largest in Africa and the ninth largest in the world with 41.5 billion barrels (as of 2007 oil production was 1.8 million barrels per day as of 2006). As a result, with respect to Libya which has oil, the government and NATO will be willing to do anything to protect this natural resource. They will also be interested in getting things “back to normal” as soon as possible so that business may resume quickly to prevent the loss of money for the country.

Topic of the Month

In hindsight, what would have needed to be done to make the Fifth Summit of the Americas (VSOA) and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), a success for the people of Trinidad and Tobago from a Public Relations perspective?

Author: Masimba Peters

   Public Relations Student

The Fifth Summit of the Americas (VSOA) brought together the democratically elected Heads of State and Government of the Western Hemisphere to discuss common concerns, develop a shared vision for the future of the region, and seek solutions to problems and challenges confronting their countries. CHOGM is an acronym for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. It is held every two (2) years and brings together Commonwealth leaders to discuss global and Commonwealth issues. Trinidad and Tobago hosted both events from April 17 to 19, 2009 and November 27 to 29, 2009 respectively.

Almost two years have passed and we have yet to see what the outcomes of VSOA and CHOGM were. Firstly, Trinidad and Tobago was the host; however Tobago was totally alienated from both meetings. For a country that is working toward first world status this is very third world to completely ignore the other half of our twin island republic. Tobago plays a large part in our tourism sector and was overlooked as venue. All the pre-summit preparations done in Trinidad were not intended for the residents but rather for the visitors. The public was not totally engaged but rather ostracized and were uncertain of the purpose of VSOA and CHOGM.

For VSOA and CHOGM to have been successful for the people of Trinidad and Tobago,  both events would have had to have a lasting impression in the world’s mind. VSOA and CHOGM were overshadowed by many factors such as the controversy over the amount of money spent, the issue of Cuba; although not in attendance, the hand shake between President Obama  and President Chavez and of course Queen Elizabeth II. There was no follow through with the meetings; after they were completed Trinidad and Tobago was soon a memory. All things take time, but no initiatives were taken after the meetings were completed. This is the major downfall to hosting these two very important meetings.

Topic of the Month

Discuss Standard and Poor's rating of the government's economic performance.

• How can it help enhance the government's image in terms of managing Trinidad and Tobago's economy? 

• Reflect on Julian Assange, the Wikileaks disclosures, and show a connection between these two issues.

Author: Sherrese Charles 

              Public Relations Student

In its Annual report, published on January 14^th 2011, International Rating Agency Standard and Poor’s, gave Trinidad and Tobago an affirming  ‘A’ in foreign currency and ‘A⁺’ in local currency long-term sovereign credit rating. At the same time, the country received an ‘A’ in short-term rating. The long-term rating AA transfer and convertibility assessment is unchanged. The rating of Standard and Poor’s upon Trinidad and Tobago would have many implications both positive and negative. One of the negative implications is that Trinidad and Tobago’s economy has become overly dependent on the energy sector.

The government needs to diversify the economy. For example, the expansion of the Cocoa Industry, planting of vegetables and other crops, and the exploring of other industries such as tourism and recycling.  Current studies show that oil and natural gas resources could be depleted in ten to fifteen years. The government’s pursuit of attaining developed nation status may be thwarted with the progression of this developing economy, as more persons may not be satisfied with the current conditions. The crime level will surely increase with corruption and petty crimes. A positive implication is that the per capita income is high. Standard and Poor’s rating of Trinidad and Tobago will illustrate to the world that we are open to trade and foreign investors. In addition, more job opportunities in the energy sector and non-energy sector such as hotels, restaurants, manufacturing of food products, and construction sectors will become available. 

Julian Assange is an Australian publisher/journalist/software developer and Internet activist. He is the founder, spokesperson and editor in chief of Wikileaks, a whistleblower website for worldwide news leaks, with the stated purpose of creating open governments. Toward the end of last year, Wikileaks exposed over 400 files on Trinidad and Tobago consisting of classified information, also concerning the US embassy diplomatic cables in Trinidad and Tobago. It is important to note that the Wikileaks website has brought to light many keys issues such as the SIA and more importantly the US has taken information from the Wikileaks site to gather secret information on Atlantic LNG.

Last year, United States Embassy officials were asked by US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, to conduct secret information-gathering on the facilities of Atlantic LNG because its loss would possibly have an immediate and deleterious effect on the United States. According to a cable, classed as top secret, but published on the Wikileaks website this month, Clinton included Trinidad and Tobago’s natural gas facility on a series of world-wide infrastructure assets that needed to be placed on the Critical Foreign Dependencies Initiative (CFDI) list. Atlantic LNG, which the cable noted, provides 70 percent of US natural gas import needs.

The Carnival Industry Poll

Today's Questions:

1. Can Carnival become a viable, sustainable and year-round industry?
2. What can be done by the government to create a favorable and enabling environment for investment in Carnival?
3. What can artists and organizers do to promote and export carnival culture internationally for a positive return on investment?