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Peter Johnson wrote a well-researched book about building effective political and economic policies for the Caribbean Basin, following his distinguished career with the State Department and his subsequent founding and leadership of a catalytic nonprofit organization called Caribbean/Central American Action.

“For nearly 40 years, Caribbean Central America Action (C/CAA) worked to promote private sector-led growth in the region, successfully finding ways to help Caribbean governments and business leaders engage with and influence the thinking of U.S. administrations. Creating a New Caribbean Policy—The Story of C/CAA, recounts the story of an extraordinary collaboration among business leaders in the Caribbean Basin and in North America—how it began, how it evolved, what it accomplished during the two decades under the directions of the organization’s well-known and widely respected first executive director, Peter Johnson. From his earliest days working on the Panama Canal and SALT Treaties, until making his decision to gamble on stepping outside the usual trajectory for a career in the State Department, Johnson tells the remarkable story of how a small but carefully assembled team was able to achieve so much with what was relatively so little.

Here is a summary of Peter’s book from Amazon:

“’Today the Caribbean and Central America’s problems are again writ large,’ writes David Jessop (consultant to and former executive director of the Caribbean Council) in the foreword. ‘There is, however, no strong, well-supported, non-governmental private sector voice attempting to find practical solutions in ways that share the region’s long-term values.’     

“Creating a New Caribbean Policy—The Story of C/CAA deftly summarizes the past while pointing toward a new path for the prosperity of the people of the Caribbean Basin.”

Alan Haas writes, “I retired in May [2025] and turned my educational consulting business over to my former associate and our earlier intern. After leading three notable secondary schools in Connecticut and, in between, Geneva, Switzerland, I transitioned in 1986 to the emerging ‘profession’ of educational consulting. This involved helping students with applying to boarding schools and colleges. Most of our clients were initially from Switzerland and gradually extended around the world. Guiding students from around the world to quality schools and colleges was a worthy endeavor. It was a good business, and we kept it honest despite some of the fraudulent practitioners who surfaced along the way.

“Here is a family update: We have a son and a daughter, both of whom married well and produced three children. Two each graduated in recent years from Dartmouth and the University of Miami. The other two are at Skidmore and Bucknell [graduates]. Fortunately, all goes well with no major hiccups.

“Finally, I am very proud that the current president of Wesleyan was one of the first to speak out in objection to the Trump administration efforts to weaken the warp and woof of the institutions of learning that constitute the magnificent carpet on which civil society exists. President Roth remains active in this critical rebuttal, and I hope our classmates are cheering him on.” 

GEORGE CHIEN | george.d.chien@gmail.com