Reporter Jacqueline Charles talked with Associate Professor of Political Science and Policy Studies Damion Blake for her article that looks at how the country is becoming a "mini-superpower" in the Caribbean.
A recent report by the Miami Herald looking at the growing influence of Jamaica and its prime minister, Andrew Holness, included insights from Associate Professor of Political Science and Policy Studies Damion Blake.
Reporter Jacqueline Charles notes that Jamaica, the largest island in the English-speaking Caribbean, has seen new investments in commercial and residential real estate projects, increasing tourism and declining unemployment following years of economic turmoil. At the same time, Holness is sharing the global stage with leaders including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and United Nations Workd Bank Group President Ajay Banga.
Blake, who was born in Jamaica and has conducted extensive research into the politics of the Caribbean, told Charles that he understand the appeal of Holness.
“I find him to be a very transformational, steady, forward-looking kind of prime minister who in my view has made Jamaica better internally,” Blake said. “Regionally, he has his hands on the pulse of the Caribbean region; he understands about Caribbean unity and integration and the greater development of the region and I’m very impressed with the ways in which he is dealing from the front on the issues regarding Haiti.”
Read the full article to learn more details.
His teaching areas are comparative politics and government, national security, politics of the Caribbean, introduction to international relations, and interdisciplinary courses including “The Black Man in America.” Blake’s research areas are organized crime and urban violence in the Americas; democracy and mass participation in the U.S.; social Justice and race in the U.S.; and Caribbean politics, governance and development.