It's barely registering. Scan the front pages of the American dailies and you'll barely notice that President Obama is headed for Trinidad and Tobago to take part in the Summit of the Americans. Sandwiched between the G20 Summit earlier this month, and the G8 Summit scheduled for July, the Summit of the Americas is practically an orphan.
Mussolini's son-in-law once famously said that while victory can find a thousand fathers, defeat is an orphan (and he would know, wouldn't he?). The Summit of the Americas is that kind of orphan: a good idea that didn't quite work, and for which nobody now wants to claim credit. God loves the Trinis for volunteering to open their island to the influx of delegates expected this weekend, and for investing so much to try and revive a directionless institution.
The first summit was held in 1994. It was supposed to lay the groundwork for a hemispheric free-trade region. It was a bold ambition to create the embryo of an American (in the larger sense of the term) version of the European Union.
Anti-Americanism
But the Free Trade Area of the Americas foundered, probably breathing its last gasp at the contentious 2005 summit in Argentina. By then, the global tide against the US-driven version of globalisation - derided as the 'Washington consensus' - had dovetailed with a rising anti-Americanism in parts of Latin America.
Cut adrift from its moorings, the summit's own momentum carried it forth. There was no good reason to kill it. But nor were there obvious reasons for keeping it. It was not even clear if President Barack Obama would bother to attend, given everything else he has on his plate. But early in his administration, he telephoned the Organisation of American States (OAS) - under whose rubric the summit takes place - and indicated he would travel to Port-of-Spain.
The summit's chequered history does not necessarily make it irrelevant. Students of diplomacy often point out that as bureaucratic exercises, summits are dubious to begin with. Given their short duration, most of which is consumed by formalities and photo oppor-tunities, little that's substantive gets done at summit meetings. One estimate of the recent G20 Summit in London suggested that each leader spent just a few minutes on contributions to the discussion.
So it will go for the Summit of the Americas. The formal document to emerge from the Port-of-Spain meeting is largely complete, being the product of months of diplomatic negotiations. As such, it is filled with platitudes and has a little something for everyone. Moreover, having been in large part written before the onset of the global financial crisis, it has been overtaken by events.
Little practical use
Nonetheless, the summit will assemble the leaders of all the countries in the Americas - with the notable exception of Cuba, which remains barred from the OAS. Much of the public posturing will ignore the summit agenda to focus on current issues. Much will be playing to home audiences, and will serve little practical use.
Still, in the corridors and private rooms, there will be time for buttonholing and talk around real issues. That is where real progress could be made. Were Caribbean governments to use this golden opportunity to put their concerns on the regional agenda - and even more importantly, on the agenda of the new administration in Washington - the summit could yet prove a fruitful event.
Will they do that? Will they take advantage of this opportunity? Both Ottawa and Washington, our major trading partners, appear open to creative proposals from the Caribbean. Will our leaders be too preoccupied with getting their snapshot with Obama to exploit this rare opportunity?
John Rapley is president of the Caribbean Research Institute (CaPRI), an independent research think tank affiliated to the University of the West Indies, Mona. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com.