Consider the complex of challenges before the international community, especially vulnerable small island states, such as The Bahamas and other CARICOM members, as well as various Commonwealth countries in Africa and the Pacific.
The threats range from the effects of climate change with rising sea levels and droughts to human trafficking and the trade in guns and illicit drugs, helping to fuel alarming crime rates and piracy, as well as other security challenges including international terrorism and cybercrime.
Many countries are reeling still from the fallout of the Great Recession with trade and financial services and banking regimes often rigged in favor of the global powers inclusive of governments and corporate behemoths. Youth unemployment is staggeringly high. Income inequality is on the rise.
There are the ongoing challenges of development in fields ranging from education to agriculture to the increasing health challenges posed by an epidemic of chronic non-communicable diseases and infectious diseases.
Singular shocks such as a hurricane can wreck a national economy, as evidenced by Grenada and other natural and human-made disasters in other countries.
There remain the issues of sustainability, the outflow of human talent to more developed states and the need to augment the capacity of the state and civil society to meet these challenges, inclusive of the expansion of technical and technological know-how.
In a recent commentary, Sir Ronald Sanders, a noted regional columnist and international author and scholar, and now candidate for secretary general of the Commonwealth, argued why he considered it best for Scotland, with a population of approximately 5.3 million, to remain in the United Kingdom.
Sir Ronald argued that it made both Scotland and the U.K. stronger, globally and in Europe, and was good for Britain's standing in the commonwealth. The question of scale and size is critical for all states in meeting the rush of challenges left over from the last century and the emerging threats of the 21st.
Complex
For smaller and medium-sized states in an ever complex and more integrated international community, such scale and capacity is enhanced through membership in various international intuitions and regimes, prime among them, the Commonwealth of Nations.
The Commonwealth Secretariat's website notes: "The commonwealth is a voluntary association of 53 independent and equal sovereign states. It is home to 2.2 billion citizens, of which over 60 percent are under the age of 30. The commonwealth includes some of the world's largest, smallest, richest and poorest countries, spanning five regions. Thirty-one of its members are small states, many of them island nations."
The Commonwealth is at the center and the periphery of the global commons, uniquely poised as a multilateral institution, and in critical ways unencumbered by some of the power politics of the United Nations.
The secretariat's website further notes: "The Commonwealth Secretariat promotes democracy, rule of law, human rights, good governance and social and economic development. We are a voice for small states and a champion for youth empowerment."
At the heart of the secretariat is the secretary general, who, is responsible for:
o promoting and protecting the commonwealth's values;
o representing the commonwealth publicly; and
o the management of the Commonwealth secretariat.
The secretariat "provides guidance on policy making, technical assistance and advisory services to Commonwealth member countries. We support governments to help achieve sustainable, inclusive and equitable development".
The Commonwealth is readying to elect a new secretary general at the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) at Malta in November 2015, with a Caribbean national set to serve in the post.
To many, the best person for the post is Sir Ronald, a former diplomat, who has been nominated by Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne. His columns appear regularly in the two leading daily journals
Unique
Sir Ronald's is a unique and informed voice, combing a Caribbean inflection and deep commitment to the region, with stellar international, diplomatic and academic credentials.
He is one of the leading Commonwealth academics on small states and is the author of "Crumbled Small: The Commonwealth Caribbean in World Politics".
He has lent his determined voice in support of equality, fairness and inclusion, and is well-known throughout the commonwealth, with extensive travels in the Caribbean, including to The Bahamas on several occasions. He has visited every Commonwealth CARICOM country and lived and worked in five of them.
He is a prodigious intellect, a gifted and prolific writer and articulate speaker, having worked in government, business and civil society. His regional and global brief includes political, economic and social affairs, with work in international bodies ranging from UNESCO to the International Foundation for Animal Welfare.
Sir Ronald's website chronicles his international career: "His diplomatic career spanned two periods between 1982 to 1987 and 1996 to 2004. He was twice high commissioner to the United Kingdom for Antigua and Barbuda and ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO). He had special responsibilities for negotiations on financial and trade matters in the WTO and with the International Monetary Fund and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)."
Sir Ronald, currently a senior research fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London, has an intimate and deep knowledge of the Commonwealth and the secretariat, where he has served as a special adviser on small states and has been a member of the board of governors of the secretariat and the Commonwealth Foundation.
He served in 2010-11 as a member and rapporteur of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group (EPG) to devise a report to reform the workings of the commonwealth.
The report "A Commonwealth of the People: Time for Urgent Reform" will be the basis for the restructuring of the organization and its current strategic plan. Sir Ronald would hit the ground running as secretary general.
With the complex of challenges before the Commonwealth and the Caribbean, he is not solely an excellent regional candidate for the post of secretary general. He is one of the best candidates for the post in the commonwealth.
Sir Ronald Sanders' gifts and experience match the challenges and opportunities we face as a commonwealth of shared values and interests.
o frontporchguardian@gmail.com, www.bahamapundit.com.

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