Security issues for small islands developing states

Abstract

International politics are often described as a realm wherein great powers are constantly seeking opportunities to expand their hegemony whenever and wherever possible. In such a world, small states, particularly those lying on the periphery of great powers are subject to intense pressures leading to limitations on their sovereignty. As maintained by the Commonwealth Secretariat /World Bank. Joint Report (2000:20) small states are more vulnerable than larger developing countries to shocks as well as threats to their sovereignty, security and natural resources. Nonetheless despite these seemingly adverse conditions instead of disappearing small states have been steadily increasing in numbers. Small states are not a homogenic group, they have different characteristics pertaining to their economy, distance from large urban centres, social cohesion, levels of education, physical size and the nature of their environment, and also to the security threats they face. However, there also seems to be common behavioural traits that bind them together. The question therefore is what methods do they use to ward off potential threats? How do they maintain security? What are the threats perceived by small states? How is their behaviour when confronting such threats different from that of larger states. This dissertation will look at small state theories vis a vis small state security. It focuses on the threats to their sovereignty and their very existence as perceived by small states taking the English speaking Caribbean islands as case studies.