IN my piece yesterday, I made the point that you cannot apply a basic understanding of contract law to the agreement between EXXON and Guyana. That covenant is floating on a sea of politics. I seriously believe people who clamour for a renegotiation of the EXXON contract are ignorant of one of the main impulses in the world – international relations.
Guyana within the context of international politics simply cannot demand EXXON come to the table. There are powerful actors in world politics that are not connected to EXXON, but who have an interest in how things play out between EXXON and Guyana. Those who demand a renegotiated document simply cannot fathom this aspect of the oil contract in Guyana because they are driven by an understanding of law and not international relations.

The same fault-line applies to the argument by Vishnu Bisram who advocates that Guyana adopt the American dollar as its currency. Here Mr. Bisram’s advocacy derecognizes the importance of global politics. I thought better of Mr. Bisram because I have read many times where he wrote that he has several academic qualifications.
If that is so, then Mr. Bisram is one of the world’s most educated persons and I say that in all seriousness. I know of no scholar whose works I currently read in philosophy, sociology, comparative politics, economics, literature and international affairs who has so many qualifications.

Against this background of being one of the world’s most educated persons, one would have expected a higher quality of scholarship than what is contained in his letter of July 28.
I will now address the faults in Mr. Bisram’s analysis.

1- He says that the Chinese yuan would not be favoured as an international currency because of conflicts China has with other countries. He cites India and western powers. I find a bit of pro-western propaganda in this statement. I would put it the other way – Western countries have created conflicts with China because China has now arisen as a superpower and the West feels it will be displaced as the force that dominated the world the past 500 years.
Countries that will refuse to accept the yuan as an international currency are those that are locked into a historically tight relationship with the US and the US will not allow them to trade in the yuan. Even though Australia can be described an intimate ally of the US, because of Australia’s geographic location it will be a very strong trading partner with China and will not oppose the yuan as an international currency.

2- Bisram argues that should Guyana adopt the dollar as its currency, Guyana will become a more vibrant market for American goods. This is a strange outline of words. Bisram did not say the US will become more receptive to Guyana’s exports. The US will not. Our gilbakka and catfish have been banned in the US. When Guyana’s ambassador Sam Hinds was asked why on the Giildarie-Freddie Kissoon Show, he said he thinks in relation to catfish, the Americans are annoyed that our fish carries the name catfish because the Americans have their own catfish. If Mr. Hinds is right, then that is plain bullying of a small, poor country by a superpower.

3- For a man who wrote that he has several exceptional tertiary qualifications, one wonders what was going through the head of Mr. Bisram when he wrote that if Guyana makes the US dollar its currency, such a direction will ensure the protection of Guyana from threatening countries. This is a very poor comprehension of realpolitik in international affairs.
The US will protect Guyana depending on who is making the threats. President Maduro accepts that the Essequibo belongs to Venezuela, but Maduro is quiet on his claim because he knows that the Americans would not accept his aggression. But opposition leader Guaido is equally inflexible on the Essequibo claim and the Americans want him to replace Maduro. If that should happen, why Bisram thinks the US will confront president Guaido on his aggression against Guyana? It will not. Venezuela is a billion miles more of geopolitical, geo-strategic value to the US than Guyana.

Finally, four quick points on the flaws of Mr. Bisram’s thinking: one is he says that the US dollar has been the world’s most stable currency throughout history. Not so. It was the British pound during the British Empire. Two- the dollar became globally popular because the US dominated the world after 1945. Three – the euro has significantly dented the power of the dollar. Fourthly, Bisram should realize that Pax Americana is dying. The world has become multi-polar and a new superpower has emerged.