PEACE, DEVELOPMENT AND SECURITY IN THE CARIBBEAN

Transcription

1 PEACE, DEVELOPMENT AND SECURITY IN THE CARIBBEAN

2 Also by Anthony T. Bryan ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES AND THE COMMONWEALTH CARIBBEAN (editor) ISSUES IN CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (coeditor) Also by J. Edward Greene RACE VS POLITICS IN GUYANA RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION IN THE DEVELOPMENT SCIENCES IN THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING CARIBBEAN (coauthor) SMALL BUSINESSES IN BARBADOS (with Christine Barrow) THE CONFUSED ELECTORATE IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO (with Selwyn Ryan and Jack Marewood} PEOPLE VS POLITICS IN THE CARIBBEAN Also by Timothy M. Shaw AFRICA PROJECTED (editor with Olajide Aluko) AFRICA IN WORLD POLITICS (editor with Ralph /. Onwuka) TOWARDS A POLITICAL ECONOMY OF AFRICA NIGERIAN FOREIGN POLICY (editor with Olajide Aluko) NEWLY INDUSTRIALIZING COUNTRIES AND THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF SOUTH-SOUTH RELATIONS (editor with Jerker Carlsson) CONFRONTATION AND LIBERATION IN SOUTHERN AFRICA (coeditor) CORPORATISM IN AFRICA (coeditor) COPING WITH AFRICA'S FOOD CRISIS (coeditor) POLITICAL ECONOMY OF AFRICAN FOREIGN POLICY (coeditor)

3 Peace, Development and Security in the Caribbean Perspectives to the Year 2000 Edited by Anthony T. Bryan Professor and Director, Institute of International Relations University of the West Indies, Trinidad J. Edward Greene Director, Institute of Economic and Social Research University of the West Indies, Jamaica Timothy M. Shaw Professor of Political Science Director of International Development Studies Dalhousie University, Canada Palgrave Macmillan UK

4 ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / Anthony T. Bryan, J. Edward Greene and Timothy M. Shaw 1990 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition All rights reserved. For information, write: Scholarly and Reference Division, St. Martin's Press, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY First published in the United States of America in 1990 ISBN Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Peace, development, and security in the Caribbean: perspectives to the year 2000 I [edited by] Anthony T. Bryan, J. Edward Greene, Timothy M. Shaw. p. em. Bibliography: p. Includes index. ISBN West Indies, British-Politics and government. 2. West Indies, British-National security. 3. Geopolitics-West Indies, British. 4. West Indies, British-Relations-Canada. 5. Canada-Relations -West Indies, British. I. Bryan, Anthony T. II. Greene, John Edward. III. Shaw, Timothy M. F2133.P dc CIP

5 Table of Contents List of Contributors List of Abbreviations Foreword Introduction vii ix xi xiii PART 1: GEOPOLITICAL ENVIRONMENT 1 Dominant Issues in the Role and Responses of Caribbean Small States Lloyd Searwar 3 2 The Caribbean Basin: Cockpit of the New World Roland Ely 34 3 The United States in the Caribbean: Geopolitics and the Bargaining Capacity of Small States Anthony P. Maingot 57 4 The Geopolitical Environment: Latin America Anthony T. Bryan 85 5 Canada and the Security of the Commonwealth Caribbean Steven Baranyi and Edgar Dosman Europe in the Caribbean: from Colonial Hegemony to Geopolitical Marginality Colin Clarke 126 PART II: NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT 7 Politics and Administration: Outstanding Issues Related to Peace and Security Gladstone E. Mills The Demographic Basis of Social Instability in the Caribbean of the Eighties Patricia Anderson Structural Adjustment and Transformation in the Caribbean: Management Strategies Based on the Lessons of Experience Terrence W. Farrell 180 v

6 VI Table of Contents PART III: THREATS TO NATIONHOOD 10 External Influences and Stability in the Caribbean J. Edward Greene Threats to Territorial Integrity Anselm Francis Threats to National and Cultural Identity Rex Nettleford 241 PART IV: SMALL STATE RESPONSES 13 International, National and Regional Initiatives to Enhance Security Through Exchange of Information and Diplomacy - The Commonwealth Report Revisited Neville 0. Linton International, National and Regional Security Arrangements in the Caribbean Vaughan A. Lewis Lessons for the Caribbean from Small States of Other Regions W. Andrew Axline 299 Selected Bibliography 321 Index 327

7 List of Contributors Dr Patricia Anderson Associate Research Fellow, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Kingston, Jamaica Professor W. Andrew Axline Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science, University of Ottawa, Canada Mr Steven Baranyi Doctoral Student in Political Science, York University, Canada Dr Anthony T. Bryan Professor and Director, Institute of International Relations, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad Dr Colin Clarke University Lecturer in Geography and Official Fellow of Jesus College, Jesus College, Oxford, England Professor Edgar Dosman Centre for Research on Latin American and the Caribbean, York University, Toronto, Canada Dr Roland Ely School of Political Science, University of the Andres, Merida, Venezuela Dr Terrence W. Farrell Director, Research Department, Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, Port of Spain, Trinidad Mr Anselm Francis Institute of International Relations, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad Dr J. Edward Greene Director, Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER), University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica Dr Vaughan A. Lewis Director General, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, Castries, St. Lucia Dr Neville 0. Linton Assistant Director, International Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, London, England vii

8 viii List of Contributors Dr Anthony P. Maingot Visiting Senior Social Scientist, The Rand Corporation, Santa Monica, U.S.A. Professor Gladstone E. Mills Professor of Public Administration and Government, University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica Professor Rex Nettleford Director, Extra Mural Studies, University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica Mr Geoffrey H. Pearson Executive Director, Canadian Institute for International Peace and Security, Ottawa, Canada Mr Lloyd Searwar Visiting Fellow, Institute of International Relations, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad Professor Timothy M. Shaw Professor of Political Science and Director, International Development Studies, Dalhousie University, Halifax. Canada

9 List of Abbreviations ACP CACM CARIB CAN CARl COM CARIFfA CBI CDCC CDB ECLA(C) EEC EEZ IBRD IMF LAFfA MDC NAM NIEO OAS ODA OECS RSS SADCC SELA UN UNCTAD us UWI African, Caribbean and Pacific States (associated with EEC) Central American Common Market Caribbean-Canadian Free Trade Area Caribbean Community Caribbean Free Trade Area Caribbean Basin Initiative Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee Caribbean Development Bank UN Economic Commission for Latin America (and the Caribbean) European Economic Community Exclusive Economic Zone International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) International Monetary Fund Latin American Free Trade Association More Developed Country Non-Aligned Movement New International Economic Order Organisation of American States Official Development Assistance Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Regional Security System (in Eastern Caribbean) Southern African Development Coordination Conference Latin American Economic System United Nations United Nations Conference on Trade and Development United States of America University of the West Indies ix

10 >< Gulf of Mexico [>. - /(... ~-.'. "'., t... ~..., ~- TUIIKO- G:P,. '..,.,. CAICOI. Q "uueuc ~ Caribbean Sea //'l u.o... -;: <"' c:::j..:.... PUERTO JILANOS ooco -~ ~-.,. ~- The Caribbean -') '. :ANTIGUA... UMUOA.,;v ~z~ ~.- """ ~- l' Q DOIONoCA ~ ~- IT.LUCIAO IT. VINCENT Q ---~, d Atlantic Ocean Pacific Ocean COLOIIatA Courtesy of E.P./.C.A. Washington, D.C.

11 Foreword The project 'Peace, Development and Security in the Caribbean: Perspectives to the Year 2000' was developed jointly by the Canadian Institute for International Peace and Security (CliPS), the International Peace Academy (IPA), the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) and the Institute of International Relations (IIR) (the latter two of the University of the West Indies) and Dalhousie University. The project was intended to clarify Canadian and Caribbean perspectives on small state security in the Caribbean in the light of the Grenada crisis of 1984 and of an expert study published by the Commonwealth Secretariat in 1985: Vulnerability: Small States in the Global Society. The chapters that follow were presented at a seminar in Kingston, Jamaica in March (A report of the meeting was issued by CliPS in 1987.) The papers by and large reflect Canadian and Caribbean perspectives on security, defined as both external challenges to national security and threats to internal stability. I hope they will add new insights to the literature on this subject, which is bound to grow in importance as threats to security multiply in a world of rapid global change. I wish to express appreciation to the many individuals who participated in this project; Dr Edward Greene of ISER who acted as our gracious host in Jamaica and the staff of ISER, Dr Anthony Bryan of IIR, BGen. Indar-Jit Rikhye, Dr Thomas Weiss and the staff of IPA, and Dr Timothy Shaw of Dalhousie University. Geoffrey H. Pearson Xl

12 Introduction The essays in this volume were, for the most part, originally presented at a Workshop on Peace, Development and Security in the Caribbean Basin, Perspectives to the Year The project out of which these essays emerged was inspired generally by the findings of the report by a Commonwealth Consultative Group which was published as Vulnerability: Small States in the Global Society by the Commonwealth Secretariat in That report was endorsed by the Commonwealth Summit in Nassau in October 1985 as well as by the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Vancouver in October Like the Brandt Report 1, The Commonwealth Report was concerned with strategies for reforms in the global economy which could enhance the survival and viability of small states. However, the workshop and this volume were designed to take the Commonwealth study a stage further as well as to be more regionspecific. They focus on the small states of the Commonwealth Caribbean. These essays have been greatly influenced by the debates over the events in Grenada in October 1983, which resulted in the brutal killing of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and other leaders of the People's Revolutionary Government of Grenada and what has been described variously as a subsequent 'invasion' or 'rescue mission' by the US. The preoccupation of the writers, in a collective sense, is with some specific issues aptly summarised in the report of the workshop by Lloyd Searwar as follows: (1) How prepared is the region for coping with another Grenada? (2) What are the defects in the present security arrangements and how can they be corrected? (3) Which level of organisation can best handle these arrangements, given the small size and poor states of the economies, which in many cases foreclose the options available to the Caribbean? (4) Given the fact that sustained development is a precondition for breaking the stranglehold of the problems which afflict the Caribbean, what can be done to ensure that the environment is supportive of small state strategies and policies? (5) How can the small states' access to multilateral financial institutions be increased on terms and conditions which do not generate negative and counterproductive costs? 2 Xlll

13 xiv Introduction A prominent issue that has persisted in the evolution of civilisation is the search for the establishment and maintenance of peaceful relationships among states in the global system. The wars that afflicted the Roman and the Hapsburg empires; those that resulted in the partitioning of Europe; the struggle of Europe which served to underdevelop Africa and most of the New World in which neocolonialism persists even today; and those that occurred over religious conflicts or ideological and economic considerations, have all resulted in various levels of instability in the world. Conflict in the international system is an erosion of peace and security - elements which are the bases of sustained development. The Brandt Commission recognised as much in its recommendations for the now apparently defunct caus~: a New International Economic Order (NIEO). The essays in this volume largely subscribe to the view that the propensity of small Caribbean states for attaining peace and security is proscribed by geopolitical factors that influence both internal and external options. Yet, these factors also pose challenges for such states. First among these challenges is finding the appropriate strategies for development especially for small island economies in the context of a global conflict that is defined ideologically in East-West terms and economically in North-South terms. The second challenge involves lessening the vulnerability of these states to external domination and intervention. The third is a concern with the eroding of external threats to national cultural identity. The fourth challenge is with establishing a firmer basis of regional solidarity in order to enhance the capability of the region to collectively pursue viable policies of adjustment and development as well as of peace and security. In the introductory chapter Lloyd Searwar points to the varying perception of security needs among the Caribbean states. For example, Guyana's aim at achieving security against the territorial claims from Venezuela is through the channels of diplomatic support; while Belize seeks protection against the Guatemalean claims to its territory through military arrangements with the United Kingdom. In the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) the controversy over the nature of the US intervention in Grenada has yielded a general agreement by most CARICOM states that there was a responsibility to intervene in some form, whether diplomatically or militarily. The rationalisation of the ultimate decision on military intervention in Grenada is based on a principle that, ifa crisis is not capable of regional resolution, it is not inappropriate to seek assist-

14 Introduction XV ance from outside the region as long as it is resolved in a way which does not conflict with the objectives or regional countries. The critical question according to Searwar is 'whether in the medium to k.. ng term more substantial and continuing arrangements can be mganized to provide both the institutional and technical bases for seif-defence as well as the mechanisms for dealing with crisis situatio,ls'. This is the major challenge to the region arising out of the Grenada issue. This volume is organised in four sections, each dealing with specific aspects of the responses and challenges to peace, development and security of the Caribbean small states which are outlined in the Chapter 1. Part I provides an overview of the Geopolitical Environment. In this context, the prominence of the United States as a hegemonic power; the role of Canada and relationships with Europe illustrate the changing patterns of colonial attachments resulting from the gradual diminution of the British colonial presence. The impact of Cuba in the region, and the increasing role of some Latin American states and Canada as middle powers defining the boundaries of diplomatic, strategic as well as economic options facing the Caribbean, illustrate some of the new dimensions of foreign policy space. What is clear, and was dramatised by the Grenada crisis in particular, is that the small states of the Caribbean may have little option but to minimise close relations with countries identified by the United States as being an adversary. The future, however, could well be modified in light of the emergence of Japan and the European Community in the configuration of global power and some larger Latin American states as actors in the regional power equation. The essays in Part II focus on the National Environment. The decline of effective public administration has been a common factor for a variety of reasons including the absorption of required skills into the private sector and their loss through migration outside the region and the increasing politisation, decreasing financial and human capacity consequent upon adjustment programmes which primarily result in the first instance in cut-backs of the social services and social programmes. When these adversities are bolstered by increased political and bureaucratic corruption, infringements of human rights, and erosion in some cases of the democratic processes of participation, the consequences are reflected in the degeneration in internal security of the state through mismanagement and misallocation of resources. Rationality in bureaucratic practices is replaced by patronage and corruption.

15 xvi Introduction Allied to this are demographic trends which underline the nature of social instability. While there has been an obvious decline in fertility rates in the region, migration continues to draw away essentially on the skilled labour force. Unemployment, especially in light of the high percentage of the population of working age 15-64, has been projected to range between 15 per cent and 30 per cent by the year Increased emphasis will have to be placed on programmes for job creation and on training in skills more responsive to the promotion of economic growth and viability. The need for structural transformation to cope with these dilemmas is critical. In his discussion of this topic in Chapter 9 Terrence Farrell, identifies three possible approaches to structural adjustment: (1) the traditional (IMF) approach of demand management, devaluation, wages policy, curbing money supply; (2) the structural approach, which places the emphasis on growth and on those factors which promote or inhibit capital accumulation; and (3) the eclectic/pragmatic approach which initiates policy that is responsive to the specific circumstances of the particular country. Of the three, the last, eclectidpragmatic, approach seems relevant and preferable for small open economies which are often forced to adopt policies of short-term crisis management, rather than longterm development and planning strategies. Threats to Nationhood is the subject of Part III. The essays in this section all demonstrate how the geopolitical and national environmental factors provide critical influences on national development. These influences range from the historical legacies of colonialism which introduced specific legal and conventional forms of linkages between small states and the superpowers, to specific threats to territorial sovereignty, the erosion of cultural identity, and the ongoing conflict between East and West. At the theoretical level it is argued that of the options available to small states, the one most likely to consolidate peace and security is the maintenance of regional solidarity. This view is supported by concrete illustrations which demonstrate how national security is linked not only to military factors but also to issues of sovereignty; the consequences of debt and capital flight; the terms and scope of bilateral relations; and the growing phenomenon of drugs, crime and mercenary activity. In these cir-

16 Introduction xvii cumstances, threats to national and cultural identity are quite pervasive. The role of the electronic media, education and the influences of United States 1if~-styles and attitudes present challenges to national self-images, self-confidence and nation-building. The issue, therefore, is how to build creatively on popular culture as an appropriate approach to development and change. One major area of concern is the persistent threats to territorial integrity. The territorial disputes affecting Guyana and Belize respectively are legacies from colonial policy. However, they continue to affect the nature of cooperation of these states in regional organisations such as the Organisation of American States. In the case of Belize, its dispute with Guatemala delayed its acquisition of independent status by approximately one decade. Another set of specific issues relate to East-West conflict and its implications for nationhood. In this respect Roland Ely's essay, which was not presented originally at the Kingston workshop, examines the dimensions of military and diplomatic power relations among the two superpowers; the US and the Soviet Union. Although the latter has generally expanded diplomatic and cultural links with Third World countries in general, it recognises the former's sphere of influence in Latin America and the Caribbean. Hence Soviet efforts to gain entry into the region depend on successful links with forces committed to profound revolutionary transformation of the status quo. Distance from the Soviet Union and close proximity to the US results in clear conventional superiority for the US in the Caribbean region. This is not necessarily mitigated by Soviet access to facilities in Cuba, since the problem of logistical support over extended and vulnerable lines of communications remains. Indeed the Soviet Union has not been known to assume any commitment to the defence of even its closest ally, Cuba; nor can it easily redress the balance with the US without seriously diminishing its military and economic activity elsewhere. Part IV is concerned with Small State Responses. What emerges in these essays are three broad options facing the Caribbean: diplomatic, regional/institutional and international. These options, while not mutually exclusive, each place emphasis on different configuration and sets of strategies. In pursuing the diplomatic options small states are required to emphasise coordinated action in the management of unequal relations with other powers. This involves pursuing political cooperation with international agencies on a regional basis. The process of collaboration on such a basis would increase potential for

17 xviii Introduction monitoring, collecting and analysing information, foreign policy pianning, training diplomatic personnel in areas of special interests as well as in the techniques of arbitration. At the regional level, certain institutional responses have already been introduced. For example, the Regional Security System (RSS), which emerged out of a Memorandum of Understanding among OECS territories and Barbados in 1982, reflects the peculiar needs of this grouping of small states. There is need to introduce more prudent foreign policy management strategies which could increase the ability of Caribbean states to gain more widely accepted support for their objectives. Among the international options put forward for consideration is the need for choices of strategies for small states which: (1) respond to their own domestic concerns, but in which those actions may be interpreted incorrectly as part of an East-West conflict; (2) promote the possibility for multilateral assistance and provide support where necessary for defence arrangements; and (3) encourage the granting of aid on terms appropriate to the development strategies of small island territories. The choices of strategies may be illustrated by the lessons of other regional experiences, for example in the South Pacific and in the Southern Africa Development Coordination Conference (SADCC). Here there is strong evidence to support the view that, for regional cooperation to be viable, it must aim at more than the traditional model of economic integration to embrace specific projects, increased functional cooperation, and a commitment to the principles of regionalism as a mechanism for achieving peace, security and development. Perhaps an underlying philosophy is that peace is intricately linked to prosperity in the contemporary world. Sustained failure in the global economy as a whole, and in the poor developing countries will deprive us of peace. A crisis of international political economy will also be a crisis of international security, in which the interests of all small states, particularly in the Caribbean, are likely to be downgraded and disregarded. Anthony T. Bryan J. Edward Greene Timothy M. Shaw

18 Notes Introduction xix 1. Willy Brandt, North-South: A Programme for Survival, Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, Lloyd Searwar, Peace, Development and Security in the Caribbean Basin: Perspectives to the Year A Conference Report No. 4, Ottawa: Canadian Institute for International Peace and Security, 1987.