Wresting Opportunities in a Globalized World: A Strategy for Securing the Ascendancy of the Caribbean

Wresting Opportunities in a Globalized World: A Strategy for Securing the Ascendancy of the Caribbean

Abstract
Forces militate against the persistence of the hegemonic position of developed countries since emerging world culture and prospects for attaining higher levels of development have made the international power structure redundant. The elite's bid to maintain power and reap rich rewards from deeper globalisation at the expense of the South cannot be sustained.

Removal of concessions from the Caribbean will provide the fulcrum for its ascendance. Survival necessitates demanding more from the international sytem through deepening integration and democracy. Caribbean citizens reflect the global trend of demanding greater accountability and participation in governance and determining their life chances. Such trend will make it increasingly difficult for the North, even the USA to dictate policies or sustain puppet governments in the region. The growing Caribbean community in the developed world will enhance the region's influence on policy therein.

Against this background, Caribbean statespersons can put mechanisms in place to avoid casualties and capitalise on the opportunities these developments provide for increased hegemony of the region. Consequently, the region can play an integral part in establishing an international culture that allows a new international political, economic and social order where developing countries will reap net benefits.

In the post Cold War world, developing countries face free trade relationships that are skewed against them. Despite such realities, there is a growth in global patriotism at the expense of nationalism, especially in the developed world as exemplified by the proliferation of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) as well as protests by citizens of the developed world for the implementation of a global system that is more in line with the New International Economic Order (NIEO) proposed in the seventies. Such developments underscore the reorientation of the international and domestic cultures toward increased participation of citizens in policy formulation and implementation.

The inadequacy of the nation state in allowing citizens full exploitation of the benefits of globalisation, accounts for an increase in the conflict between the interest of the state and its populace and the increasing unwillingness on the part of the latter to continue a high level of subservience to the former. Identities of individuals are no longer largely defined by the nation state, but extend to their affiliation with international pressure organisations that embrace their beliefs. Their activities are not constrained to changes within any one nation but extend toward effecting an international political culture that erodes the hegemony of Eurocentric culture as manifested in the hybridised form of that espoused by the USA (Burbach, 2001).

Even national governments recognise the limits of the nation state and are forging the development of supra nation states in the form of regional units to allow significant improvement in welfare. Governments, however, do not want to extend the powerful position enjoyed by the elite to the masses and, therefore, tend to oppose policy or movement in this regard. Despite this, governments are faced with the relentless pressure from citizens for increased participation in decision-making and greater accountability of the state. The success of integrated units, however, hinges on the cooperation and well being of all the citizens involved (Reid, 1997). Such cooperation is only guaranteed if everyone's well being is enhanced.

A modification of the old international order is essential for intensifying the process of globalisation. Technological superiority including weapons of mass destruction and overt measures used to subject a weaker state or set of people are increasingly becoming two edged swords where huge costs accrue to the powerful states employing such strategies with the ordinary citizens suffering more than the elite. The adage that might is right, when employed by western developed states, is being challenged by even citizens of the North. An American, who was an inspector for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, is critical of America's determination to war with Iraq (RJR, 2002) .Self-interest is pushing developing countries to reject the culture that decision-making should reside in the North since the stability of their countries would otherwise be threatened. In the globalized world, it is becoming more evident that brute force and military strength is no match for the brainpower of a determined foe who has nothing to lose if it should lose but everything to gain if the converse occurs. In other words, the only price for true cooperation is for every state to have a stake in the international status quo, that is, a modification in the international balance of power to allow more equitable influence in the international arena. It is becoming more evident that concessions or diplomacy will have to be used to maintain security in the North and the South.

Wheeler and Booth (1991, p.58) support this view by stating, “War has become less rational between major powers, as the cost has risen and the benefits declined.” This argument is now even applicable to war with weaker states. The September 11 incident and Israel's attempt to contain Palestinians have indicated, beyond a doubt, that the most potent weapon is the festering and nurturing of hatred among citizens. Such realities enhance possibilities for the power of a state to be subsumed by the wits and determination of the non-state enemy, even through the use of the powerful state's resources.

The imperative is to shape the international system to the advantage of the Caribbean. Current global realities that involve the removal of the strategic importance of the Caribbean, and hence concessions thereto, are prerequisites for reducing the dependence of the regions' citizens thus forcing them to chart a course that will yield net benefits. The states in the region will have to stand up to the international power not merely because their survival, political tenure and lives might hinge on it. The region took a common position against the stance taken by the USA to protect its agricultural sector through subsidies and even though the “International Don” (the USA) showed disfavour, fuelled by the disaffection of citizens in the developed world, it has shown an apparent about turn. Bernal states that the USA took exception to CARICOM's criticism against the former unfair protectionist method for its agricultural sector (Bernal, 2002). With the resilience of the region and some support from the European Union, the International Don has since announced that it will soon implement measures to reduce such levels of protection (The Breakfast Club, 2002).

Predatory practices of the developed world have forced Caribbean states to see the relevance of the process of integration. In fact, the private sector in the region is demanding an earlier date for the establishment of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME). This underscores the pertinence of a concerted effort between the state sector and the citizens of the region to realise goals that are beneficial to the region's populace. It also highlights the need for higher levels of political and economic integration and a more participatory political culture to allow the state system to better facilitate the interest of its citizens. Consequently, more stable and progressive economic systems will be in the region because the people support it. Moreover, the ability of the developed world to dictate policies will be severely hampered since the state sector would no longer have that exclusive right to decide on local policy.

Measures to secure life in the region can only prove successful if the international and domestic systems significantly reduce the level of exploitation. What is required is a transformation in the elite and its support base within the international and domestic realms. This would be facilitated with the upsurge of an international system that is made intolerable by protests and demonstrations, petitions and lobbying within the North if change is not effected to our benefit. In other words, the opportunity costs of maintaining the status quo must become greater than the costs of doing otherwise. The increased demand for mainly skilled personnel from developing countries to sustain and facilitate greater levels of growth and development within the North offers scope for the ascendance of the region.

The increase in foreign component of such states will result in an increase in the clout of such citizens - through their achievement of citizen status - and by extension their states of origin. Hence the region should encourage its citizens to become citizens of the developed world. Patterson (2002) points out that the brain drain has immediate benefits for the region since remittances from emigrants repay the cost of training in a few years and contribute as much as Tourism to the economy. He fails to recognise this as a significant source of capital transfer from the developed world and hence a venue for modifying the international culture that is skewed against developed countries and hence also contributes to the expansion of the economy. The migrant community can contribute significantly to the region's development while contributing to that of the developed states by serving as our horse of Troja by attaining citizen's status in order to enhance the region's influence and forming lobby groups to counter the policy against the region. Una Clarke has reiterated the need for such a movement in the USA to exert an influence similar to the Israelis (Boyne, 2002).

The experience of Israelis and Cubans in the United States of America indicate the potential power of a foreign community in a developed state. These peoples' identities are strongly defined by their states of origin, even the generations that are born in the United States. It is apparent that the Israelis are convinced that Israel's policies are in their interest and that they therefore have a basis for securing her interests. Contrary to this, the Cubans feel that their interests are not being realised or promoted in Cuba and are hence dedicated to the replacement of the system in Cuba with liberal democracy and capitalism. Should these be achieved, the Cubans in America will pressure the state for policies in favour of Cuba. Underlying these immigrant communities is a deep interest in the well being of their states of origin which is passed on to their descendants.

The strategy, essentially, therefore involves Caribbean citizens' identity with the region and thus a fostered conviction that their efforts within and without the region should effect improvements in Caribbean's influence in the developing world. This implies that certain changes will have to be realised in the domestic sphere to facilitate such a reality.

Political victimisation mainly affects the small man and he is sometimes used as a tool for the political forces as happens in the case of Jamaica where survival largely hinges on his party being in office (Stone, 1980). Caribbean citizens think that statesmen get a lot out of the system while the citizens get very little. This caused the island strike in St.Vincent, which lasted over a week and resulted in the fall of the Prime Minister Mitchell's government (The Daily Gleaner, 2000). Rising protests in the Caribbean against government action and a greater determination to be involved in the process of governance signal that the political system no longer fits the political culture of the people.

The vendors who comprise a significant proportion of such entrepreneurs have not been passive objects in the process. Their reaction to government's action to remove them from the streets in response to the demand of large business interests was to “lock down” downtown Kingston in 2001 (Anderson & Mills, 2001). They made it known that if the “small man” cannot make his living then he will allow nobody else to do so in the area. These vendors' determination has resulted in a compromise, in that the business elite and the state are forced to involve them in the process of arriving at strategies for making vending more organised with fewer social costs.

Within Jamaica, there are two main philosophies that guide the masses' strategies for survival, Anancyism and Donmanship. The use of violent means to effect control over resources- as seen in the garrison system and how the political elite maintains power - is "Donmanship”. Anancyism epitomises the weak using its wits to survive as expressed in the innovativeness of the masses in their use of the little capital they have at their disposal to establish enterprises (Reid, 2002). State action needs to promote the innovativeness of the masses and discourage Donmanship at the community and national levels. Within the international and domestic spheres, Donmanship hinders the ascendancy of the Caribbean state.

Even within garrison communities, the security forces are not eliciting support from citizens because of human right's abuses therein. The states' position that citizens should cooperate with the security forces and its cover up of extra judicial killings and other atrocities committed by the security forces (and hence the state) against the masses discourage compliance of ordinary citizens (Amnesty International, 2002). Moreover, with a justice system that is viewed by many to be against the poor as well as unreliable, many are encouraged to take the laws into their hands.

The increased unwillingness of citizens to have policies thrown down their throats by governments signal the difficulties that the state faces in accepting policies that will lead to a reduction in their citizens' welfare. Caribbean governments can no longer trade off aid and concessions to ensure acceptance of policy by its citizens. Such states therefore have to reject the detrimental policies of the developed countries because the opportunity cost of doing otherwise is too great. Bernal (2002) contends that there is resoluteness among the developing world. He states:

The perceived evisceration of their goals during the WTO has engendered a new militancy by developing countries enunciated by the Minister of St. Lucia in an address to the plenary of the Seattle meeting. “No to globalization without ethics! No to liberalization without equity! No to globalization without inclusion! No to liberalization without human security! No to globalization without sustainability and above all, chairperson, no to liberalization without development.”

Unlike the Cold War era, the South cannot do without the establishment of a new international order where it exerts greater influence and reaps increased benefits. Of course, the support from the relatively new and increasingly influential NGOs offers scope for the South to form alliances and extend its influence in the North.

The political climate must be right to convince Caribbean citizens within and without and their descendants in other countries that the state is geared toward their interest. The Caribbean region should seek the interests of its people instead of a selected few. People must not feel that they will only benefit when their party is in power (whether based on the tribal politics of Jamaica or the ethnic rivalry in the political process of Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago). A political formula must be in place that secures the interests of all regardless of whom is in power and hence provide the right framework for a stable society and prosperous economy.

The political formula should involve the political and economic integration of the region, to legitimise a strategy of cooperation among West Indians in their lobbying action to realise the interests of the region. Such integration, will allow greater influence in the international arena, as the region will speak with one voice. The political formula should encompass policies which lead to citizens becoming more involved in the decision making process and governments being more accountable.

Critical for enhanced welfare of citizens of the Caribbean is awareness and understanding of the world in relation to opportunities and possibilities as well as the costs. As such it is critical for the populace to be educated to allow development of the region's human capital. This underscores the pertinence of distance teaching and open learning which overcome most of the obstacles with traditional face to face means of engagement. For instance, the Ministry of Education in Jamaica utilises distance learning as a means for allowing teachers to continue their productive work in the classroom and at the same time achieve effectively achieve its objectives for having all teachers trained at the degree level. Distance education could be used to train school drop outs to complete their secondary level education as well as train teachers to a certain level of competence and hence serve to increase basic levels of numeracy and literacy in communities (Serumola, 1996)

The distance education and learning programmes should not only be used by local universities - as in the correspondence courses and online learning by foreign universities - to allow locals access to education but could be used by primary and secondary schools to prepare Caribbean people overseas for Caribbean examinations. As such, additional revenue and enhanced welfare would accrue to local economies as the needs of Caribbean citizens who are dissatisfied with public schools and hence send their children to private school or back to region to receive education up to the secondary level are met.

Essentially, therefore, since the traditional process of learning proves to be more costly and less suited to the needs of particular groups or individuals, distance and open learning provide scope for Caribbean peoples to increase their opportunities and enhance their welfare in order to contribute effectively to the well-being of the region. Of course, distance learning possibilities offered by overseas institutions contribute to enhanced welfare. However, distance education from local institutions has greater multiplier effect on the economy and thus provides a greater stimulus for expansion in the economy. This would also lead to an automatic increase in the HDI in the region as well as per-capita income and overall well-being.

Caribbean states face a scenario where rules are dictated to them and sometimes flouted with impunity by the USA. Based on the electorate, Caribbean governments would commit political suicide if they accept the dictates of the USA and the developed world through the international trade regime that the latter has established. Consequently, the political system in each state should be reformed to reflect the emerging political culture by allowing citizens full involvement in decision-making and their increased willingness to live with the consequences thereof.

As a collective integrated unit, the Caribbean would be more effective in maintaining its stance in the international system and even realising its interests. The Caribbean communities in the USA and the developed world in general would be a force to reckon with since they would be able to place the interest of the former on the front burner of policy making in the developed world. Distance and Open learning provide opportunities for realising the above objectives by allowing more people to be informed and contribute positively to enhanced well-being.

As an awardee in the Institute of Caribbean Studies for the academic year 2005-2006, I was amazed at the level of demand by people overseas for information from the institute on Jamaican culture and therefore consider this as a possibility for the institute to offer its courses on the international scene as well as research services through this process.