Militarization of the Caribbean: Concerns for National and Regional Security

Abstract

A year after the intervention in Grenada, the continued presence of United States military personnel and a Caribbean peacekeeping force on the island serve as poignant reminders of those fateful days in October 1983 and illustrate the emerging reality of the militarization of the region. Since then the Caribbean islands have been the recipients of massive military and military training assistance, and the area has been used for naval and military exercises. These developments have raised concern both within and outside the region about the effect of such militarization on the changing pattern of Caribbean politics. In contrast to the modern image of the Caribbean as an idyllic and peaceful region, perfectly suited to attract visitors from the temperate metropoles, it is difficult to appreciate the appropriateness of regional and hemispheric action which dictates a policy of militarization in response to the perceived 'security problem.' The impropriety and shortsightedness of such a policy are readily understood when the factors which precipitated it are examined. As a result of decolonization in the 1960s and the emergence of independent Caribbean states in the 'seventies, new relationships were formed and new actors began to assume prominent roles in defining the nature of Caribbean politics. The Cuban socialist revolution, backed by the Soviet Union, gave new meaning and emphasis to United States-Soviet rivalry. Both sides recognized the geopolitical and strategic im-