Commentary: The Greater Caribbean This Week: In pursuit of the interests of small states
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| Published on Saturday, August 11, 2007 |
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By Watson R. Denis, PhD
There is no doubt that changes have taken place in the international system over the past 50 years. For example, decolonisation in the 60s and 70s gave rise to a series of new States, some with large surface areas, others smaller, which are often considered as small States. The emergence of these new States has significantly transformed the system.
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| Dr Watson Denis is the Political Advisor at the Secretariat of the Association of Caribbean States. Feedback can be sent to: mail@acs-aec.org |
Generally, States are described as small (not necessarily poor or vulnerable) based on their limited geographical and population size, their modest material resources, or even their limited political influence in international relations. However, it is also true that a number of small States enjoy great prestige and international respectability, since, under no circumstances, should one equate, for example, the geographical size of a State, with the scale of its foreign policy.
Accordingly, in order to protect their interests in the international arena, small States adopt a policy of collaboration with their closest or even somewhat distant neighbours. In other words, they join international organisations and enter into strategic alliances within regional organisations. Such is the policy adopted, and it is in fact the most suitable one, to seek their interests, the security of their territories and their economic survival. In view of the abovementioned “smallness factors”, this is the surest means of achieving their foreign policy objectives.
In pursuit of these objectives, small States quite often avail themselves of the diplomatic instruments at their disposal. They place particular emphasis on the principles of international law opposed to military force. In times of armed conflicts and political upheaval, often in their quest to escape the battlefield, they are motivated to sign bilateral and multilateral agreements to protect themselves against international aggression. They are generally motivated by economic and financial cooperation with other States and entities, which are in a position to provide reinforcement and consolidate their foreign policy and alliances.
It goes without saying that despite their material weakness or economic and political limitations, many small States play a very active role in the international arena. They mobilise themselves within the international arena, and they sometimes give this precedence over individual factors or even their own State bureaucracy, in the quest for change, new diplomatic instruments, positions and decisions favourable to them. They plunge into the fray in pursuit of these objectives. Therefore, they look towards the preponderant actors in the international arena and the driving forces behind international policy. They seek to win the confidence of international actors in order to form partnerships with them. They also seek to identify the issues or powerful trends in international politics to get in tune with them.
All these reasons and objectives explain why small States exhibit the very natural tendency to become involved in regional and international organisations and to be covered under the laws, rules and conventions of the international system. This provides them with a safety valve at all levels. Their involvement guaranties their physical integrity and economic development. Additionally, it enables them to become stronger international actors (with other partners) and to have a greater impact on global affairs.
The involvement of small States in integration and cooperation organisations has become increasingly significant. And the Caribbean is very much a part of this. In the Greater Caribbean for example, organisations such as CARICOM, SICA and SIECA, are involved in the vast field of economic and political integration. Subsequently, the ACS was established as a space of dialogue for political consultation among the insular Caribbean, Central America and three (3) Latin American countries, as well as to develop functional cooperation in four (4) specific areas, namely Sustainable Tourism, Trade, Transport and Natural Disasters, and the protection of the Caribbean Sea, the common heritage of the region.
The establishment of the ACS constitutes a new step toward the political construction of the Greater Caribbean around the Caribbean Sea. The States themselves have created an entity to crystallise regional cooperation among the zones or sub-regional integration bodies. At the regional level, the States of the region (the vast majority of which are geographically small) have recognised the importance of cooperation in pursuing their interests strategically in a spirit of harmony and mutual assistance. At the international level, the entity created becomes a political instrument, with the fundamental goal of enhancing the politics of cooperation among themselves, and in this way, they look to becoming preponderant, or, at least, represent a united block to protect the interests of each Member on behalf of all. The multilateralism of small States does not oppose their bilateral policies. It serves to strengthen their well-ordered bilateral policies at many levels!
Dr Watson Denis is the Political Adviser at the Secretariat of the Association of Caribbean States. The views expressed are not necessarily the official views of the ACS. Feedback can be sent to: mail@acs-aec.org |
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