Is Caricom Prepared for Globalization
Karl Wiggins
Is CARICOM prepared for globalization?
CARICOM or the Caribbean community has been the subject of heavy debate across the region as it relates to its success, relevance and the fulfillment of its intended mandate. The Caricom organization was established in the wake of the dissolution of the West Indies Federation and aimed primarily at bridging the gap between English speaking Caribbean countries and the wider world as well as promoting integration between its member states in terms of trade and national growth. The Caricom organization now consists of fifteen (15) full members, five (5) associate members with seven (7) observer members, and under the revised treaty of Chaguramas has set the deadline of 2015 as its target date for full implementation. While the community has an established organizational structure and several community sub organizations such as the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Relief Fund (CDERA), among several others, many in academic circles continue to question whether or not the organization is prepared for the phenomenon of globalization.
However let us first consider what globalization is in order to ascertain why we as a Caribbean region need to be prepared for it. According to Anthony Giddens, “Globalization can be defined as the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa.” From this definition we can paraphrase that globalization causes events in Small Island Developing States such as in the Caribbean to be affected in a major way by the events which transpire on a larger scale in the wider world. These can range from economic conditions, such as divestment of entities or events on the stock market to the liquidation of large companies resulting in job loss, the consequences of which generally have a tendency to trickle down to smaller nations such as in the Caribbean.
But how does
Is CARICOM prepared for globalization?
CARICOM or the Caribbean community has been the subject of heavy debate across the region as it relates to its success, relevance and the fulfillment of its intended mandate. The Caricom organization was established in the wake of the dissolution of the West Indies Federation and aimed primarily at bridging the gap between English speaking Caribbean countries and the wider world as well as promoting integration between its member states in terms of trade and national growth. The Caricom organization now consists of fifteen (15) full members, five (5) associate members with seven (7) observer members, and under the revised treaty of Chaguramas has set the deadline of 2015 as its target date for full implementation. While the community has an established organizational structure and several community sub organizations such as the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Relief Fund (CDERA), among several others, many in academic circles continue to question whether or not the organization is prepared for the phenomenon of globalization.
However let us first consider what globalization is in order to ascertain why we as a Caribbean region need to be prepared for it. According to Anthony Giddens, “Globalization can be defined as the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa.” From this definition we can paraphrase that globalization causes events in Small Island Developing States such as in the Caribbean to be affected in a major way by the events which transpire on a larger scale in the wider world. These can range from economic conditions, such as divestment of entities or events on the stock market to the liquidation of large companies resulting in job loss, the consequences of which generally have a tendency to trickle down to smaller nations such as in the Caribbean.
But how does