CMU News

Part One of this publication examined the “Real Fear of Terrorism” and how it has affected the individual, community and state. It dealt with mass shootings in the United States, a phenomenon which has become increasingly popular for persons with terrorist intentions.

The document ended with the prognosis, that this type of terrorist activity and the spread of fear would likely continue or get worse, if tangible counter terrorism strategies were not employed to effectively address the current and emerging terrorist threats.

Part Two will now look at the “Counter measures to deal with terrorism and how to restore public safety”.

Countering terrorism, restoring public safety

Former Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden makes the point that “Naming the problem is the only way to fixing the problem”. Whether you like or dislike the Vice President, his suggestion makes a lot of sense or is on point. My experience has taught me that crime is like a disease which if it to be fixed, must be properly diagnosed, named and prioritized for the appropriate solution.

It is in keeping with the diagnosing, naming and prioritizing of this type of problem why the United Nations developed a counter terrorism strategy to deal effectively with terrorism. The strategy is built on four fundamental pillars;

Pillar # 1 – Addressing the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism.

Pillar # 2 – Preventing and combatting terrorism.

Pillar # 3 – Building states capacity and strengthening the role of the United Nations.

Pillar# 4 – Ensuring Human rights and the rule of law.

In light of what is happening north of us, all four pillars are extremely important, however since pillar # 1 seeks to address the matter of prevention, then serious attention must be paid to those issues which some persons and entities are positing as the cause for these terrorist act which are being played out in mass shootings across the United States.

The availability and accessibility to all types of firearms and ammunition, uncontrolled and unsupervised access to the internet, violent video games, unattachment from family and communities, untreated mental health condition, bigotry and gang affiliation are conditions which are conducive to the spread of terrorism and must be dealt with in order to counter terrorism. Ensuring human rights and the rule of law is an inescapable societal demand which must be effectively fulfilled.

Threat and risk assessments of terrorism

When we speak about threat and risk assessment, we are taking into account the danger, harm or loss that is lurking somewhere out there and the levels of exposure of the individual, community or state to the threat that is lurking. The current assessment is showing us that unlike previous terrorist attacks where explosives have been used, the preferred weapon in these recent incidents in the United States is the gun. High powered rifles with high performance magazines have featured in most of the mass shootings. Small arms are extremely portable and concealable and can be easily move from one country to another. Jamaica is experiencing severe firearms proliferation challenges and the main source country is the United States, which is having its fair share of challenges in the form of mass shootings.

It is an undeniable and undisputed fact that Jamaican are fond of guns. Guns are the weapon of choice in the commission of murders in Jamaica. The gun is featured in approximately eighty five percent of the murders committed in Jamaica. The Minister of National Security, The Honourable Doctor, Horace Chang, whilst addressing the Parliament of Jamaica stated that intelligence reports are suggesting that approximately two hundred illegal guns are imported into Jamaica each month.

With twelve months in the year, it means that 2400 illegal firearms are finding their way into the country. The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is reporting that on average per year, they are recovering approximately six hundred illegal firearms. With that said, approximately 1800 firearms would be left in the hands of criminals to carry out violent attacks against the Jamaican population, of three million people.

In making the connection between the United States and Jamaica, it is important to develop a checklist of the conditions that have given rise to the problems that the United States is experiencing and equate them with the Jamaican situation. We have unattached youths who hold the belief that families, friends and society have failed them. We have over two hundred gangs operating across the country and recruiting young people into their membership. These gangs are involved in transnational organized crime to include drug trafficking, firearms trafficking, human trafficking and money laundering. Our children are exposed to the internet and most times without supervision. The violent video games which are spoken about in the United States are available here in Jamaica and are used by children without adult supervision. Mental health issues are affecting both children and adult and sometimes it is hidden by family members who may consider it as a “taboo subject”.

We are witnessing incidents of suicide being committed by adults and children. Access to illegal firearms is fairly easy, especially through gang connection, some of which has their built in rental systems. We have human rights issues and low levels of hate crimes. The country has a murder rate which according to the JCF is averaging in excess of twelve hundred murders annually. Killing people is not a strange phenomenon in Jamaica. We are known to copy some of the bad examples like drive by shootings and cybercrimes as perpetrated in the United States.

When the checklist is analysed across the two spectrums, we see glaring similarities to the extent that we can no longer say, this cannot happen to our beloved country. All the risk indicators are showing that Jamaica is at an extremely low level on the risk ranking chart, but so was New Zealand when the terrorist who was from another jurisdiction, committed a major terrorist act which claimed the lives of approximately fifty people and has plunged that country into fear and panic. The worst thing any state could do is to render itself beyond the reach of the terrorist threat. Whilst the probability remains extremely low all things are possible, as terrorists are always looking for soft targets similar to El Paso and Dayton. With that realization, continued focus must be placed on terrorism counter measures which must be done from a proactive standpoint.

The way forward

The fear of terrorism can cause states to cower into hiding and hope the terrorists will pass them by, or the fear can generate the adrenaline that will put the state into fight mechanism to effectively tackle the terrorism challenge that is confronting the world. The United Nations Global Counter Terrorism Strategy which comes out of the UN Office of Counter Terrorism, remains a useful reference document in dealing with terrorism related issues at this time. The four pillars form an effective blueprint to guide counter terrorism activities.

Fear, whether real or imagined, has its effect but let us at this time apply the fight mechanism and push back the terrorists. We could start by doing these things:

1. Condemning all forms of terrorism.
2. Remove euphemisms from terrorism classification. Call it what it is.
3. Commence terrorism awareness education to reach the mass of the people since they are most vulnerable.
4. Identify and dry up sources of terrorist financing.
5. Study and limit their access to the means that enable them to carry out their threats, with particular reference to firearms.
6. Address the conditions that give rise to terrorism.
7. Build state capacity to respond to the threat of terrorism. Capacity building must be done from a proactive standpoint.
8. Aggressively pursue and deal with sponsors and facilitators of terrorism.
9. Deal with human rights issues which have the possibility to cause decent and alienation.
10. Develop and promote the understanding that crime affects everyone and is not confined to the immediate victims.
11. Enforce the rule of law without fear or favour, malice or ill will.

Assan Thompson, Retired Assistant Commissioner of Police, JCF
Head of Department
Centre for Security, Counter terrorism and Non-Proliferation (CSCTN)
Caribbean Maritime University

The Deputy President of the Caribbean Maritime University, Professor Ibrahim Ajagunna, is to be presented with the Prime Minister’s Medal of Appreciation for Service to Education.

The announcement came by way of a letter from the Office of the Prime Minister to Professor Ajagunna.

In the letter, Prime Minister Andrew Holness noted that the award is being made “in exercise of the powers vested in (him) by Rule 4 of the Prime Minister’s Education Awards Rules 2005.”

The Prime Minister asked that Professor Ajagunna “accept (his) warm personal congratulations” for what he termed “your well-deserved award.”

Responding to the announcement, Professor Ajagunna said he was “deeply humbled” by the recognition.

In the meantime, CMU President Professor Fritz Pinnock, himself a past recipient of the award said he was “overjoyed” to learn that his colleague was to be accorded with “this tremendous recognition” from the Office of the Prime Minister.

“Professor Ajagunna has a long and distinguished career in education,” said Professor Pinnock, adding that “Professor Ajagunna has played a critical role in the transformation of the Caribbean Maritime Institute to the Caribbean Maritime University and in seeking to fulfill the vision of cementing the CMU as the maritime university of choice for global leaders.” 

The letter notes that the award will take effect on June 23, 2019.

A notification of the award is scheduled to be published in the Jamaica Gazette.

The presentation will be made at a ceremony to be held on the Lawns of Jamaica House on Wednesday June 26, 2019.

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A key partner of the Caribbean Maritime University – the President and Executive Director of the American Caribbean Maritime Foundation, ACMF, Dr. Geneive Brown Metzger has won a major award for maritime leadership.

Dr. Brown Metzger has been awarded the James Jay Dudley Luce Foundation Rear Admiral Stephen Bleecker Luce Award for Maritime Leadership.

The ACMF raises funds to support scholarships as well as infrastructure projects at the CMU.

The surprise announcement was made at the J Luce Foundation Awards gala on Thursday February 28, 2019.

Responding to the award, Dr. Brown Metzger said “The James Dudley Luce Foundation is a champion for the neediest of the needy, and I am grateful and humbled by the extraordinary acknowledgment.”

The J Luce Foundation citation presented to Dr. Brown Metzger notes that under her leadership “the AMCF has become an outstanding and effective organization dedicated to the reduction of poverty in the Caribbean in support of the Caribbean Maritime University and has resulted in visibility of the CMU in the United States, providing scholarships to deserving students.”

The citation also asserts that Dr. Brown Metzger “embodies the characteristics of honour, intelligence, benevolence and integrity.”

The award is named in honour of the late Commodore Luce, an American naval education reformer and modernizer who rose through the ranks of the US Navy during the American Civil War to establish a Naval College at Newport, Rhode Island in 1884 and the US Naval Institute in 1887, and played a vital role in establishing what is today known as SUNY Maritime College.

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Caribbean Maritime University, CMU, President Professor Fritz Pinnock has been recognized with the 2019 James Jay Dudley Luce Foundation Humanitarian award.

Professor Pinnock was one of three recipients of the award at a ceremony held at the Princeton Club in New York City in the United States on Thursday February 28, 2019.

In accepting the award Professor Pinnock said he was humbled by the recognition and remains driven to serve Jamaica.

The citation from the J Luce Foundation highlights that Professor Pinnock has “dedicated his life to uplifting Jamaican youth, transitioning from several years in the shipping industry to first lecturer then Executive Director of the Caribbean Maritime Institute to today serving as President of what he has grown into the world-renown Caribbean Maritime University.”

It also notes that the CMU has grown from 30 students in 1980, to 300 in 2007 to over 6,000.

The award comes in the wake of a partnership between the J Luce Foundation and the CMU which has seen the creation of the The Luce Leadership Centre at the CMU.

The two co-directors of the Luce Leadership Centre at the CMU – Romaine Wallace and Roberto Bennett – were also recognized for their work along with Dr. Abigail Pinnock who was among recipients of the 2018/2019 Luce Leadership awards.

The Centre has been developed to support the students on campus in Kingston, as well as for Young Global Leaders (YGLs) online around the world, with emphasis on Honor, Intelligence, Integrity, Benevolence, and Stewardship.

Professor Pinnock holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Sustainable Cruise Tourism from the University of the West, Mona Campus; an MSc. in International Shipping and Logistics from the University of Plymouth, United Kingdom, and a BSc. (Hons.) in Economics and Accounting (Management Studies) from the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus.

He is an International Maritime Consultant who has worked on numerous projects for a range of governments and international agencies and organizations.

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Implications of the US Withdrawal from the INF Treaty:  Is Arms Control Dead?

The February 1 announcement by United Sates’ Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, that the U.S. would suspend its compliance with its obligations under the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) because of Russian violations brought echoes of a similar announcement almost twelve years ago.  On July 14, 2007, it was the Government of the Russian Federation that declared its intention to suspend its participation in the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE), citing violations by the U.S. and its NATO partners and their refusal to ratify the Adapted CFE.  One month before, at an Extraordinary Conference on the CFE at the Hofburg Imperial Palace in Vienna, Austria, the meeting place of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), then, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Alexander Grushko had warned the gathered diplomats that the CFE Treaty was growing increasingly out of step with military-political realities which threatened its demise.  Six months later, Russia halted its compliance with the CFE, and, in 2015, permanently ceased participation in the landmark arms control agreement.

The fate of these two Treaties, which was preceded by U.S. withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Nuclear Treaty in 2002, does not bode well for the future of the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), signed in 2010, and which limits strategic nuclear weapons.  Nor does it offer any optimism for the future of arms control in general. Rather, arms control seems to be on a precipitous trajectory that is being driven as much by geopolitical developments as technological advancements that have blurred the lines between conventional and nuclear weapons, threatening the start of a new arms race.

Signed during the waning years of the Cold War—the INF, in 1987 and the CFE, in 1990—the two Treaties have been referred to as the “Cornerstone of European Security”, reflecting the contributions of both instruments to security and stability in the Euro-Atlantic sphere.   Both Treaties, in effect, limit military armaments on the European continent, thus, reducing the possibility of large-scale military conflicts.  While the INF Treaty constrains the deployment of short and intermediate-range, nuclear and conventional ballistic and cruise missiles that are land-based,[1]the CFE Treaty addresses conventional armed forces.

The INF Treaty was agreed upon in 1987 by then U.S. President Ronald Reagan and the then President of the former Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev.  It prohibits the deployment of “land-based” missiles of 500 and 5,500 kilometres in Europe, (but not air and sea-based missiles) on the parts of the Russian Federation and the United States.  Since coming into force, it has seen the reduction of 2,692 short and intermediate range ballistic missiles that are ground based. [2]

Signed between the former Warsaw Pact countries and members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the original CFE Treaty came into force in 1990.  The Treaty reduced conventional armed forces, both personnel and certain categories of military weapons on the European Continent.  In effect, the Treaty and saw the destruction of more than 70,000 pieces of Treaty-limited equipment, eliminated excess war-making capacity in Europe, and established a military parity between the two blocks.  By restricting the movement of arms and personnel in specific geographic locations, the CFE prevented destabilizing build ups that could lead to surprise, military attacks in Europe.

When Russia announced its withdrawal from the CFE in 2007, NATO’s membership had expanded from the sixteen that signed the original CFE to include several states from the former Soviet Block “East of Vienna”. In announcing its withdrawal from the CFE, Russia protested that: NATO member States had not ratified the Adapted-CFE(Russia had); the Baltic States, as new NATO members, had neither ratified the original CFE nor the Adapted-CFE, thus,  NATO’s force ceilings exceeded the levels agreed under the CFE; and NATO’s refusal to ratify the Adapted-CFE until Russia withdrew its military presence from Georgia and Moldova represented an artificial linkage to the CFE.  Russia also argued that the planned U.S. missile defense systems in Central Europe and an early warning radar for Southeastern Europe violated regional arms control norms and posed a threat to Russian security.  The U.S. demurred, justifying the need for the missile defense capabilities in Europe on Iran’s advancement in developing ballistic missile capabilities.

In Russia’s present-day assessment, the increasing vulnerabilities engendered by NATO’s eastward expansion have devalued the security benefits of both the INF and the CFE given geopolitical and technological developments.  Similarly, NATO’s decision to base missile defense components in Europe has been cited by Russia in its charges of Treaty violations with regards to both the CFE and the INF.  While the U.S. and its NATO partners are numerically advantaged vis a vis Russia in the air and sea-based intermediate-range missiles, not barred by the INF, China, a key U.S. adversary, is not a party to the INF Treaty and has already amassed longer-range stockpiles of the missiles prohibited by the INF that have been judged to possess both nuclear and conventional capabilities.  U.S. withdrawal from the INF, therefore, provides cover for Russia to scale up production and deployment of the 9M729 cruise missile, which the U.S believes to be capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear warheads and of traveling over the 500 kilometres limit set by the INF.  Russia denies this is so.

Should the U.S. follow up on its withdrawal from the INF and place the treaty-prohibited weapons in Europe, Russia could reciprocate by installing such missiles at geographic proximities that would leave U.S. allies on the Continent more discomforted.  Russia, could, for example use Kaliningrad, on NATO’s doorsteps, as one of its bases in response for the use of Polish territory for basing NATO missile defense components.  With the Trump Administration showing no interest in further negotiations on confidence-building and verifications, and China unrestrained by the Treaty, arms control seems destined for expiration as Europe does little more than hand-wringing in response.

[1]Arms Control Association, February 2, 2019

[2]Arms Control Association, Issue Brief, Volume 11, Issue 4, February 1, 2019

Winsome Packer presently serves as Coordinator for Counter Terrorism and Nonproliferation Studies at the Caribbean Maritime University in Kingston, Jamaica.

Education, Youth and Information Minister Senator the Honourable Ruel Reid has said he is thrilled to learn of the latest partnership between the Caribbean Maritime University, CMU, and Kingston Wharves Limited, KWL.

Senator Reid was speaking on Wednesday at the launch of the Dr. Grantley Stephenson Professorial Chair in Logistics and Port Management at the CMU.

The launch took place at the Corporate Offices of KWL in Kingston.

Commenting on the initiative Senator Reid asserted that “as Jamaica positions itself to become a major logistics and transshipment hub to increase the volume of business that passes through our ports annually, the latest tripartite collaboration between KWL, the Caribbean Maritime University and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information is a major step towards achieving this goal.”

He added that “investment in infrastructure is critical and equally so is the investment in capacity building and training persons at all levels of the industry. I am therefore thrilled to learn of this latest initiative by KWL to strengthen the existing relationship between the Caribbean Maritime University and Kingston Wharves Limited.”

The Chair will be held jointly by CMU President Professor Fritz Pinnock and CMU Deputy President, Professor Ibrahim Ajagunna – two of the foremost researchers in Logistics and Port Management in the region.

In addition to conducting research projects, Professors Pinnock and Ajagunna will lend their considerable expertise to providing strategic and leadership support for the KWL during the engagement which is scheduled to last from May 2018 to April 2021 and is open to being renewed.

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A new Professorial Chair has been launched at the Caribbean Maritime University, CMU, in partnership with Kingston Wharves Limited, KWL.

The Dr. Grantley Stephenson Professorial Chair in Logistics and Port Management was launched at a ceremony at KWL Wednesday afternoon.

Dr. Stephenson is the Chief Executive Officer of KWL – a key partner of the CMU.

The Chair will be held jointly by two of the foremost researchers in Logistics and Port Management in the region – CMU President Professor Fritz Pinnock and CMU Deputy President, Professor Ibrahim Ajagunna.

Commenting on the rationale behind the launch of the Professorial Chair, the KWL CEO said “Kingston Wharves is pleased to partner with the CMU on this very important undertaking. This step is in keeping with our pioneering role and deep interest in Jamaica fulfilling its potential as a logistics destination and leading in the growth of the industry regionally. ”

He added, “we firmly believe that any moves we make to develop Jamaica as a logistics hub, must be underpinned and guided by research and empirical data that will inform how we build.”

Dr. Stephenson also praised the CMU and Professor Pinnock in particular for working to deepen understanding  and helping to drive exploration of the wealth of opportunities in the sector.

For his part, Professor Pinnock observed that “Logistics and Port Management represent critical aspects not just of the Jamaican economy, but indeed the regional economy and the CMU is impressed by the bold step taken by KWL, under the leadership of Dr. Stephenson, to support research in this area,”

In addition to conducting research projects, Professors Pinnock and Ajagunna will lend their considerable expertise to providing strategic and leadership support for the KWL during the engagement which is scheduled to last from May 2018 to April 2021 and is open to being renewed.

Professors Pinnock and Ajagunna have written and published over 75 industry-related peer reviews and international journal articles in multiple languages including French, Spanish, German and Chinese.