Not a word will you see in this post about Trump’s speech to the “UNGA”!
Not one word!
Nor even about Netanyahu’s!
But boy, have I ever enjoyed this:
While I was at it, I stumbled across another speech that figured prominently amongst the youtube videos from the UNGA, that of Prime Minister Mia Mottley of tiny Barbados, with a population of 280.000. That’s right: two hundred and eighty thousand Barbadians. That’s even less than the population of Iceland on the diametrically opposite side of the world. But the Barbadians have a much nicer international calling code: +1. That of Iceland is +354
After the Spaniards and Portuguese had left Barbados, the islands were appropriated by the British in 1627 and (quoting Wikipedia):
… the colony operated on a plantation economy, relying initially on the labour of Irish indentured servants and subsequently African slaves who worked on the island’s plantations.
Yep, the British have a great deal to answer for.
Why am I going on about Barbados? Well I happen to be particularly interested in another island country, Iceland (391.000 people according to the 2025 census) which has done extraordinarily well since it gained its independence in 1944. It operates on the “all hands on deck” principle. It needs hospitals, orchestras, universities, plumbers, electricians, art academies, economists and not least export industries, just like any other country. It can’t afford to let people hang around counting their fingers.
I expect Mia Mottley has not been blessed merely with privilege. She is her country’s prime minister, finance minister and Minister of National Security and the Public Service. Presumably, she is trying to bring down her country’s debt which was the second highest in the world in terms of ratio to GDP, when she took office. The debt has decreased considerably; yet she is serving her second term and is still remarkably popular.
Since Mia Mottley, whom I had never heard of, seems to have attracted a lot of attention in the media, I started listening to her speech, just to – sort of – figure out what sort of scandal she had made.
Nope, no scandal, just an extremely intelligent speech! She balanced it so carefully that most people, I think, would be able to applaud her words. She managed to avoid the Scylla- Carybdis dilemma – whether to offend one side or the other – yet at the same time, she was able to make a few important points. Very important points, amongst them: the need for a “rules- based system”.
Mind you, the very words “rules-based system” raised my hackles when she first uttered them, because they were almost identical to Biden’s “rules-based order”, which basically means US rules in defiance of international law.
However, Mia Mottley made very clear that she had something entirely different in mind: the UN charter. Do we still agree about the UN Charter, she asks. And I would add: If not, what do we agree about? Her alternative seems to be: Let those who do not agree leave the room. I don’t know what alternative is the best. At any rate, she calls for a reset of global politics. Indeed, a reset is badly needed.
I take my hat off to Mia Mottley of Barbados, a very intelligent lady whose name we should not forget.