As a small island developing state, with all the attendant characteristics of small population, limited resources, economic openness and vulnerability to the volatility of international developments and to natural disasters, strategically located and blessed with rich energy resources, Trinidad and Tobago's foreign policy is founded on the tenets of:
- Respect for the sovereignty and sovereign equality of all states;
- Non-interference in the internal affairs of other states, qualified by acceptance of the responsibility of the international community to take collective action in cases of gross domestic violations of human rights or genocide;
- Respect and adherence to international law and to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
Trinidad and Tobago's foreign policy accordingly seeks to maintain, develop or enhance relations with strategic countries at the bilateral, regional and multilateral levels and to participate actively in the multilateral arena (the United Nations, its Specialised Agencies; the Non-aligned Movement; the Group of' 77; the Commonwealth; the Organization of American States; the African, Pacific and Caribbean Group of states (ACP); World Trade Organization (WTO), etc).
