In the Cold War satirical novel ‘The Mouse That Roared’, Count Rupert of Mountjoy, the Prime Minister of the European Duchy of Grand Fenwick (half the size of Gozo) declares war on the United States. The Duchy’s entire economy is dependent on making Pinot Grand Fenwick wine. California starts producing Pinot Grand Enwick, destroying the Duchy’s economy. The Duchy hopes to lose the war quickly so that the United States will rebuild the Duchy’s economy through a mini-Marshall Plan, as it did for Germany after World War II. But though armed only with bows and arrows, the Duchy of Grand Fenwick defeats the United States and becomes a new superpower bringing together 20 of the world’s smallest nations.
Are leaders of small nations condemned inevitably to learn that in real life they cannot emulate the Duchy of Grand Fenwick when taking on bigger countries to stand up for themselves? Self respecting leaders of small states have no illusion of turning their countries into a new superpower but they know and demand that they deserve to be treated right and will not tolerate others treating them unfairly. They know that if they behave like grovelling worms they will be treated as such.
Mia Mottley is the Prime Minister of Barbados who is no Rupert of Mountjoy, no mouse that roars and definitely not a grovelling worm. ‘Time’ has named her one of the most influential people of 2022. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the director-general of the World Trade Organization, says: “There are some who stand tall and stand out no matter where they are from—whether a large, densely populated country or a small island nation. Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados is one such person. Bold, fearless, and possessing a great intellect and wit, the Prime Minister is a brilliant politician who knows how to shake things up. Since she was a young woman growing up in the Caribbean, Mia Mottley has always cared deeply about critical issues impacting the world. From poverty to debt to climate change, she is a vocal advocate on the world stage for responsible stewardship of our planet, so that nations large and small and people rich and poor can survive and thrive together.”
Mottley calls herself “a proud daughter of Africa”. Paying tribute to Kofi Annan the Ghanaian secretary-general of the United Nations (1997 to 2006), and identifying with him, she praised him for understanding “the enduring impacts of colonisation on environment, society, economy and psyche.” She admired his commitment for peace, development to bring about an end to poverty and his desire for genuine independence and true self-governance. She shares with him the common “grotesque and tragic history … of the crime against humanity that was the trans-Atlantic slave trade.”
In her Kofi Annan Inaugural Memorial Lecture in New York last September, Mia Mottley, recalled his words when he visited Barbados in 2002: “…small countries appreciate that collective interest, and collective action is also the national interest. What happens in your nations is of great concern to the rest of the world. Your countries are places where, in concentrated form, many of the main problems of development and environment are unfolding. Your experiences, your experiments, your transformation — can guide the way to a brighter future for all peoples”
Kofi Annan had exhorted Barbados to continue punching far above its weight in the global community. Mia Mottley and Barbados “accepted this kind remark with the responsibility which comes with it, understanding only too well the battles hard fought, then and that we must continue to fight those battles.”
Speak truth
Addressing the UN General Assembly last September she said that if world leaders want to avoid a disconnect between the government and the governed, they must speak truth in international meetings and to their people instead of relying on headlines and sound-bites. She called for a reform of the outdated global financial architecture to better reflect today’s realities and make it possible for climate stricken countries to access financial assistance from multilateral development banks.
She called for a global compact establishing that financing for development should be at least a 30-year loan. “The world recognized this when allowed Britain to participate in the refinance of its World War I bonds which were only paid eight years ago, 100 years after World War I started.”
Mottley also argued that Germany was allowed to cap its debt payments at the equivalent of 5 per cent of its exports, under the premise that the “cataclysm” experience of a war would not allow them to finance reconstruction while repaying debts incurred during the war. “We are no different, we have incurred debts for COVID-19, for climate, and now to fight this difficult moment of the inflation and [supply crisis]. Why [must the] developing world find money in 7 to 10 years when others had the benefit of longer terms to repay their [loans]?”.
At the UN General Assembly she also called for the reform of the G20 and G7 groups, arguing that Barbados “cannot accept” these “informal committees of governance” when they have no African-descent representation and exclude 1.5 billion people in the world.
She also called for a truly inclusive UN, with the Security Council needing to represent the diversity of the world in it but also that the veto must go. “We believe that a Security Council that retains the power of veto in the hands of a few, will still lead us to war as we have seen this year, and therefore the reform cannot simply be in its composition but also [must include] the removal of that veto.”
She concluded: “With those commitments, we can make a difference in this world and let us do so recognizing that a world that reflects an imperialistic order, hypocrisy and lack of transparency will not achieve that mission, but one that gives us freedom, transparency and levelled playing field will allow for a difference.”