Sir Alister McIntyre Launches The Caribbean And The Wider World

Leaders in the public and private sectors, including two former prime ministers of Jamaica, turned out to honour Sir Alister McIntyre, at the launch of his book, The Caribbean and The Wider World, held at the Regional headquarters of the University of the West Indies, Mona, on Monday, December 12.

The book, a relatively slim volume given the breadth of his achievements and involvement in regional and international development, starts with Sir Alister’s early life and education in Grenada, transitioning to the London School of Economics and to Nuffield College, Oxford University.

Speaking at the launch, current UWI vice-chancellor Sir Hilary Beckles, who later engaged the author in a conversation, noted that Sir Alister’s career coincided with the collapse of colonialism in the Caribbean.

“As such,” Sir Hilary said, “his life’s work, as presented in the book, is a critical document of the process of arriving at new models of development, of imagining growth in the Caribbean, and of navigating the complex and ever-dynamic realities of the global environment.”

He added that the book had opened a vital window for many into those processes.

P.J. Patterson, in his assessment of the man and his work, offered examples of Sir Alister’s intellectual rigour and keen grasp of the complexities facing the region from a personal perspective. He said that it was the quality of Sir Alister’s work that in no small measure helped to secure the significant breakthrough of the Lome Convention between African, Caribbean and Pacific nations and the EU. “The sheer brilliance of the presentation he made left the Europeans stunned in appreciation and made the work of the negotiating team that much easier,” he said.

Patterson also singled out Sir Alister’s work as a senior director of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Read more

Source: Jamaica Gleaner