AS a columnist, you would see something and you say to yourself that you have to write on it. I would never end my columnist career without a piece of the cruel sadism of Henry Kissenger. He was one of the most unacceptable humans politics produced. There isn’t a powerhouse in the 1970s and 1980s in China and the USSR that was as heartless as Kissenger.

Kissenger personified the myth of good guy (the West) versus bad guy (Russia). There was never such a dichotomy and in the 21st century there isn’t such a dichotomy. But a man named Lord Patten still tries to fool us in the Global South that the West wants to save us. Patten would never utter one word about what Kissenger did to the world.

Patten was a former Minister in Margaret Thatcher’s government, former governor of Hong Kong and former Chancellor of Oxford University. Don’t be fooled if you live in the Global South about what Patten wrote in the Stabroek News of Saturday, March 1, 2025.
Patten has his work to do. We in the Third World owe it to the post-colonial peoples all over the world to expose the racist thinking and Western propaganda of Patten. To those young students who are going to major in International Relations, read Patten and read my column here. I am getting on in age, but I refuse to let Lord Patten fool young Guyanese minds.

Patten found it useful to quote Churchill. I produce his Churchillian quote here: “Neither the sure prevention of war, nor the continuous rise of world organisation, will be gained without the fraternal association of the English-speaking peoples. A special relationship between the British Commonwealth and the United States was essential.”

Mr. Churchill has been said to be the most racist PM Britain has produced and there is no counterpart in the “American empire’ since 1945 to him. The racist things Churchill has said has no parallel in the American presidency after 1945.
What Churchill meant by the English-speaking world were the UK, the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Since independence in the 1960s, the English speaking Third World has never been treated with fraternal sentiments. I wonder how Patten would react to the Windrush scandal. And who are the victims of the mass Windrush deportations from the UK of legitimate residents of the UK- Non-Caribbean people.

Here is Patten in his own words: “For many –including myself- the UK/US relation has been defined by deep affection, gratitude and admiration. My lifelong involvement in domestic and international politics has been shaped by an early political baptism in the US, me an avowed Americanphile.”
Well good for Patten. He left out a big part of post war history that when read to Patten it would be fascinating to see his reaction. After the Second World War, there was no partnership between the UK and the US. The international system became unipolar with the Americans taking over and dictating what should be done in the British colonies.

No other nationality knows about this than Guyanese. In the 1960s, the US took over the role of what should be done in British Guiana. And what was done was the overthrow of one of the world’s most charismatic and honest politicians – Cheddi Jagan of British Guiana. Mr. Patten is in his eighties and one would hope that he does offer an apology to Jagan and his wife Janet, and those PPP leaders still alive and those Guyanese who are still alive and witnessed what was done to Dr. Jagan. I wonder what the South African Black population that lived through apartheid sees in the West that is admirable.
Mr. Patten went on a devastating rampage against President Trump (he should be careful but anyway, he does not need a visa to go to the US). Here is what he said about Trump: “No one has ever played as fast and loose with American values and interests.” There are two rebuttals to that. The first one is that Mr. Trump is not the first American President to play fast and loose American values.
Dozens of American presidents have done just that. The difference with Trump being what you see is what you get and he does not have the inclination to want to appear to fool you and deceive you. Trump would have told Jagan, “I want you out.” Kennedy told Jagan he has no problem with Jagan being in. And as soon as Jagan left the Oval Office, Kennedy overthrew him.
The second rebuttal is based on what Patten refers to as American interests. It is insulting for a retired British politician to tell a sitting American President what the interests of the US are. The US interest is not to bankroll Europe at the expense of the US.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.