Anchoring the divided, bickering conglomeration that is the West Indies Federation is the vibrant city of Port of Spain - a tourist destination, yes, but far more than that. The capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the center of Eric Williams' power is a city on the rise, but all that depends on whether it can keep itself in front of the rushing tide.

Perhaps it's self-evident that Port of Spain was settled by the Spanish hundreds of years ago, becoming a hub of sugarcane production and slavery. Soon, it also became a colonial lynchpin in the struggle between imperial powers, eventually trading hands from Spain to Britain. With that came a new wave of colonists - Indians from the then-Raj, settling and mixing in with the European, African, and indigenous population that had already settled there.

Modern times dawn upon a Trinidad that holds itself as one of the most diverse places in the world, with the capital city of one of the most diverse countries in the world. The West Indies Federation is charitably described as eclectic, realistically described as dysfunctional, and rumored by many to be on the verge of collapse. A perhaps ill-advised union between the old colonial islands of the Caribbean has created a gridlocked, argumentative, and disunited country that seems to exist only so far as people acknowledge it. Port of Spain has its own local problems too, of course - Williams' dominance may be fairly won, but his seeming reluctance to address racial issues has left many dissatisfied, and the weakness of the Union invites foreign interference from all players of the Cold War. Still, nothing can deny that the world seems to be laid out before the city on the Caribbean coast. If all goes well, they may just be able to reach out and harness it.