Guyana, its Foreign Policy, and the Path to Development

Abstract

Guyana is potentially on the threshold of great change. The growing importance of gold-mining and logging, and the rising hope that sizeable quantities of oil will soon be found should act as a catalyst for a dramatic improvement in Guyana's level of development. However, these industries require responsible management and there are concerns that severe weaknesses in Guyana's governance structures will place major constraints on its ability to develop in a sustainable way. The article gives an overview of Guyana's pattern of economic development and the problems associated with key economic sectors. The article then considers how its quest for development is being enhanced and sometimes hindered by its expanding set of foreign relations at the regional, hemispheric and global levels. The article suggests that there is a real chance for Guyana to make a step-change in its level of development, but important internal reforms and a delicate foreign policy balancing act are required for these gains to be realised.

Situating Petrostate Guyana in the Rise of China Discourse

“…In the case of Guyana, the immediate about-face has demonstrated the continued importance of traditional international political economy in conducting foreign policy. Moreover, the policy error and poor response management validate calls for greater investments to institutional capacity, so to better navigate Guyana's novel petrostate contexts (Clegg, 2014). Despite the blunder of offending both China and the United States in the span of one day on an issue as important to both as Taiwan, the incident's rapid dissipation corroborates that the prospect of conflict has been exaggerated within the China Threat Discourse's binary framings.…”

“…This would worsen the potency of the China Threat Discourse, and lead to the over-securitization of developmental paradigms across the South. For Guyana and the states of the region, foreign policy engagement with emerging and established external powers will require greater levels of domestic political reform and institutional strengthening to safeguard against exploitation (Clegg, 2014). These countries might do well to attempt development models that are people and community-centred, in lieu of those that are solely attentive to export-oriented infrastructure.…”

“…Although Guyana is among China's closest partners in the Caribbean, less than 2% of Guyana's pre-oil exports went to China, with most destined for the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union. Despite fears of trade dumping across the region, only 10% of Guyana's pre-oil imports arrived from China (Clegg, 2014).…”

Evaluating the impact of small-scale mining on the achievement of the sustainable development goals in Guyana

“…When it comes to illegal drugs and narcotics, ASM camps are hubs for illegal drug activities, both as a network for drug trafficking and drug use (Clegg, 2014). Substance abuse is prominent amongst miners in Guyana.…”

Borders, independence and post-colonial ties : the role of the state in Caribbean migration

“…In addition to agricultural output, gold mining, logging and the potential discovery of oil could set Guyana on a real development path. However, important challenges remain, such as corruption, discrimination and weak state capacity (Clegg 2014). The centrality of the political and governance factors in stimulating further migration was perfectly captured in the interviews of two individuals who for have shown strong commitment to Guyana and its development over the past three decades; they ended their separate interviews questioning how much further the government may continue down this path and wondering whether they may feel compelled to emigrate in the future.…”