Book review : Pan-Caribbean integration : beyond CARICOM

Abstract

Regionalists face a fundamental dilemma: smaller groupings are more likely to share common interests, but have less capacity to influence external affairs. Larger groupings have greater capacity and influence, but struggle to align diverse interests. The implications of this dilemma are evident in the Caribbean where the most homogenous group of islands with the greatest imperative to cooperate, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), have achieved the deepest integration. In contrast, the broader membership of CARICOM and ACS have had to work much harder to achieve consensus on a smaller number of issues.