Security Threats to the Caribbean Region
The Caribbean states have significant security problems that pose threats to the future
political stability and fragile economies of the states in the region in 2011. Preventive
action is imperative, but these states need significant inputs from the U.S. and other
partner countries in order to successfully address these security threats. The English-
speaking Caribbean countries are grounded in democracy and the rule of law but with
institutions lacking in resources.[1]
The varying security problems in these states have the common issue of inadequate
border management and control in the areas of customs administration, port facilities
and maritime border control. The region’s vulnerability has been worsened by the recent
global recession which has made the cost of placing security-related infrastructure and
technology even more prohibitive.[2] Caribbean security has military, political and
economic dimensions and faces both internal and external threats.[3]
The core traditional concerns in the region are territorial disputes and hemispheric
geopolitics such as in the disputes between Venezuela and Guyana, and Guatemala
and Belize.[4]
The Caribbean region also serves as a transshipment point for drugs from South
America to the U.S., African and European markets because of its strategic location
and multiple commercial and non-commercial air/maritime movement.[5]
The security threat posed by illegal drug production, abuse and trafficking is its being
the cause of marked increases in health and family problems, crime, systemic
corruption and arms trafficking, its erosion of good governance and the social fabric and
its infringement on the sovereignty of and goodwill amongst countries. There is a direct
link between illegal drug use and violent and sex-related crimes, domestic violence and
child abuse and money laundering.[6]
The security threat in the Caribbean region arising from crimes like murder, theft and
robbery, fraud and assault are the ones likely to be associated with illegal drug use.
Crime adversely affects social discourse, the business climate and orderly government
functions. Criminal activity in some countries like Jamaica is complicated by nationals
who were convicted elsewhere and later deported to their homeland.[7]
Terrorism threatens the security of the Caribbean region by slowing down its tourism
industry, which is a major foreign exchange earner and employer in the region, and
also its aviation, financial services and agricultural sectors.[8]
Economic development and social stability in the Caribbean region is also threatened by
gang violence, which also undermines foreign investment and may encourage illegal
immigration and trafficking in drugs, arms and persons.[9]
The HIV/AIDS pandemic poses a great threat to the socio-economic development of the
Caribbean region and can undermine its social fabric because infection rates here are
among the highest in the world. HIV/AIDS puts a heavy strain on health care systems
and the labor force, and will also impact mortality in the coming decades.[10]
The Caribbean region also faces several environmental threats to its security. Invasive
species such as weeds, pests and diseases that cause harm to crops and livestock
directly impact agricultural systems and the broader socio-economic picture. Such
species threaten indigenous biodiversity by destroying natural and semi-natural habitats
and ecosystems.[11]
Pollution from cruise ships, tankers and other vessels and the increasing volume of
household and industrial wastes contaminate the land and coastal waters of low-lying
countries and pose a threat to people’s health and the environment.[12]
Climate change by way of increasingly intense heat in the dry season or excessive and
out of season rainfall may also dampen the arrival of tourists in the region.[13]
[1] Curtis A. Ward, “Regional Threats: Security Capacity Imperatives in the Caribbean”, JQI, issue 58
3rd quarter 2010, <http://www.ndu.edu/press/lib/images/jfq-58/JFQ58_26-31_Ward.pdf>
[accessed 4 May 2011]
[2] ibid
[3] Ivelaw L. Griffith, “Chapter 3. Security in the Caribbean: State Sovereignty or Public Order”, Peoples, States, and Fear, ed. by Buzan, p.378 pdf, <http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Pubsecurity/ch3.pdf>
[accessed 4 May 2011]
[4] ibid
[5] “Source Countries and Drug Transit Zones: The Caribbean”, Office of National Drug Control Policy,
<http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/international/caribbean.html> [accessed 4 May 2011]
[6] Ivelaw L. Griffith
[7] ibid
[8] ibid
[9] John T. Fishel & Mary Grizzard, “Countering Ideological Support to Terrorism in the Circum-Caribbean”,
pdf, September 2005, <http://www.comw.org/tct/fulltext/0509fishel.pdf > [accessed 4 May 2011]
[10] Odeen Ishmael, “Approaches on Security in the Caribbean Region”, 29 October 2002,
<http://www.guyana.org/Speeches/ishmael_102902.htm> [accessed 4 May 2011]
[11] Moises Kairo et al, “Invasive Species Threats in the Caribbean Region: Report to the Nature Conservancy”, pdf, <http://www.issg.org/database/species/reference_files/Kairo%20et%20al,%202003.pdf>
[accessed 5 May 2011]
[12] GreenBiz Staff, “Ship Pollution is Key Environmental Threat to Caribbean”, GreenBiz.com, 10 January 2005, <http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2005/01/10/ship-pollution-key-environmental-threat-caribbean>
[accessed 5 May 2011]
[13] Linda Hutchinson-Jafar, “Caribbean Islands Fear Climate Change Threat to Tourism”, AlertNet,
4 May 2011, <http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/caribbean-islands-fear-climate-change-threat-to-tourism>
[accessed 5 May 2011]
0 comments:
Post a Comment