This book, first published in 1984, presents a comprehensive survey of the forces of change that operate in the Caribbean, an area of political instability at the time. It examines the internal politics of the different countries and considers the roles of the United States, Cuba, the European and new Latin American powers in the political conflicts, coups and revolutions.

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Although the world is saturated with extraordinary methods, innovation, and technology, the Caribbean seems to have been left behind in the sustainable growth of global development. While the majority of the world defines the Caribbean as "paradise," the reality of life for Afro-Caribbean culture is defined by an unrelenting hardship. This book comprehensively analyzes this phenomenon from a unique and intimate perspective in order to offer a viable pathway to sustainable growth. By examining the historic progression of the Caribbean region and the African culture within, the author explores the relationship between creative practice and socioeconomic crisis and questions whether limited access to environments that facilitate original and conceptual ideas correlates with socioeconomic crisis. The outcomes and methods of analysis developed in this book are a useful tool for other cultures or organizations seeking to diffuse socioeconomic crisis and implement a pathway of sustainable growth. This innovative book will be of great interest to students and scholars of cultural and sustainability studies, Caribbean and African Studies, as well as Development and Sustainable Development

The 1965 U.S. intervention in the Dominican Republic remains a unique event: the only time the Organization of American States has intervened with force on a member state's territory. It is also a classic example of a U.S. military operation that drew in America's hemispheric allies. Finally, its outcome was that rare feat in the annals of diplomacy -- a peaceful political settlement of a civil war. Here for the first time is the full story of that action, as told by one of its leading participants. General Palmer was the U.S. Army's operations chief in Washington in April 1965 when the Dominican crisis broke, and was placed in command of U.S. forces deployed to the Republic. His perspective thus reflects both the perceptions of Washington officials and those of the U.S. commander on the scene. Palmer's instructions from President Johnson were to prevent another Cuba. Although the intervention remains controversial today, especially with Latin Americans, it was successful both politically and militarily, bringing unprecedented stability to the long-troubled Dominican Republic. The lesson Palmer draws is that success in such a venture comes only when political and military actions are orchestrated toward a common political goal. Palmer concludes with an assessment of the current situation in the broader Caribbean area, including a comparison of the 1965 Dominican and 1983 Grenadian interventions, and an analysis of the situation in Panama with its implications for the Canal Treaty. His book is a timely contribution to the history of the Caribbean that enlarges our understanding of this region's vital importance to the United States.

Originally published in 1983, this anthology was the first to integrate the political experiences of the Central American mainland and the Caribbean archipelago and provides analyses of some of the most explosive events of the 1970s and 80s in this region, including the Jonestown massacre, the failures of the Burnham regime in Guyana, the tumultuous elections in Jamaica in 1980, the army officers' coup d'état in Suriname, the revolutions in Grenada and Nicaragua and the revolutionary upheaval in El Salvador. It also shows how the regional crisis affected such prosperous countries as Trinidad and Tobago and such politically stable regimes in St. Vincent and the French colonies of Martinique and Guadelope. It also discusses the development of the first Socialist regime in the region, Cuba.

The Caribbean is made up of a complex, enigmatic region, characterised by great disparities in size, population, geography, history, language, religion, race and politics. This is a region in which harmony and discord work in tandem, trying to link economic logic with political logic. This book is a useful tool not only for those specialists and students of regionalism but for all those putting their hands to the task of nation-building and those interested in the development processes of small states and economies. At the same time, this book is a comprehensive historical record especially highlighting hindrances to development in this region. This study raises two important issues: the ’political imperative of convergence’ and the need for ’appropriate correcting mechanisms’ that align the needs of the local with the regional. It is a volume that underlines the need for a change in strategy and makes proposals as to how to go about making those changes.