Independent Jamaica Faces the Outside World: Attitudes of Elites after Twelve Years of Nationhood

Abstract

A re-study of attitudes toward global alignments among 83 leaders in 1974, 12 years after political independence, is compared with a study completed just before independence in 1961–1962 in the new Caribbean state of Jamaica. A striking decline in favorable attitudes toward Jamaica's alignment with Western nations occurred, from 71% of the leaders in 1962 to 36% in 1974. New and volunteered preferences were for alignment with Third World countries or with any country as long as Jamaica's self-interest was served. The social characteristics and differential roles of leaders affected their attitudes toward foreign affairs at both times. Older, middling educated, white and Chinese, relatively wealthy, and economic or religious leaders as opposed to political, labor, or other leaders were most likely to prefer the West in 1974. Also, the values of leaders affected their foreign-policy attitudes; Reactionaries and Conservatives, Nonegalitarians, non-Nationalists, to some extent Anglo-European identified leaders, and Authoritarians as opposed to Full Democrats were most likely to prefer the West. A path model containing six causal variables explains 54% of the variance in foreign policy attitudes in 1962 and 43% in 1974.