NEO-ISOLATIONISM on the part of the US; reduction in remittances of whatever form from families abroad, but more so in the US, due to widespread unemployment; and cut-backs in foreign aid.

Grim though the picture is, this is exactly how Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Guyana (UG), Dr. Mark Kirton, sees the events of Tuesday, September 11 in the US affecting small states and countries like Guyana in the not too distant future.

One of four panellists at a public symposium titled ‘An American Tragedy’ held late Friday at the Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara, institution’s Education Lecture Theatre, Kirton said that the whole question of migration could well become an issue with the US, particularly the criteria governing the issuance of visas which he was certain will undergo change.

“I am sure that there is going to be some form of profiling which the US will put in place,” he told the packed lecture hall comprising a mix of members of the public, students and academicians.

Further, Kirton said he is already seeing evidence of a return to the US ‘Big Stick’ policy of “if you’re not with me, you’re against me; you’re not free to make independent judgements.”

He preferred that one can argue, too, that the resurgence of this policy could well become a direct threat to the US’s own principles of democracy and self-determination.

“Also, when one looks at the whole question of security of small states, this may have some impact on Guyana, having to do with diverting funding away from productive activity to shoring up the security of States and that, too, can have an impact on development and the priority with which countries have had and will have in the future,” he said.

But Lecturer in the Department of Government and International Affairs, Mr. Freddie Kissoon, begged to differ. He painted a totally different picture altogether; one in which the US is seen to make a complete turnaround in the face of crisis.

“I will disagree with Dr. Kirton; I believe that now that the war has come home, we’re going to see a changed United States in which some benevolence may be emerging,” Kissoon said with his usual candour.

He bases his argument on what he calls the ‘Gap Theory’, one he invented and feels is responsible for the war coming home to the US; this being the gap between peoples’ perception and their expectations of the US.

Contending that it is a misnomer to liken the US unto Rome in global reach and power as the London Guardian’s Washington correspondent has done in his parting analysis of the US, Kissoon said: “There is no space in the earth today that doesn’t feel the cultural, economic, and power influence of the United States. The US, because of the enormity of its presence, because of the sheer magnitude of its tentacles, is synonymous with the earth.”

It is out of this reality, he said, that has come the perception that the US is a phenomenon.

“I think the people of the world see the manifestation of God at the moment as the US,” he said.

He based this argument on the grounds that “there has never been a time in the US history where its movies have been so influential.”

There has never been a time either, he said, when “even the most semi-civilised person in some of the most semi-civilised places in the world wants to go to the US.”

Noting that expectation can be two-fold, either international or economic, with the former being that “… this phenomenon; this Herculean giant; this inexplicable factor that touches the whole Earth… will take care of this world…and ensure stability, and international justice and coherence.”

The second expectation is that this country so overflows with wealth that it is incalculable.

In summary, he said: “…the people of the world, based on their perception, have an expectation of the US which I would call a benevolent hegemony of pax Americana.”

Noting that what has been happening since 1989 is the hegemony of pax Americana and this is what is causing the resentment, Kissoon said this can best be demonstrated by what the US is doing to small Caribbean countries on the banana and rice markets, and its steadfast blockade on Cuba.

As to what impact the September 11 event might have on CARICOM (Caribbean Community) member states in terms of getting their act together vis a vis the formation of the Caribbean Single Market & Economy (CSME), Kirton who elected to respond to this question from the floor, said it was unfortunate that the Caribbean has always been known to react to external events and stimuli.

“It’s a pity that now, instead of being proactive and moving Caribbean unity over the years, we have to wait for an event of this type which will surely impact on us as a region to try to get our act together,” he said.

“Having said that,” he added, “I think it is critical at this time, especially in the context of an impending recession which indeed will have a negative impact on the Caribbean generally, that there should be a jump-start; higher levels of cooperation at the economic level must be a priority for the Caribbean at this time.”