The Caribbean, a part of the Americas, is made up of the Caribbean Sea, its islands—some of which have sea borders just with the Caribbean Sea, while others have sea borders with both the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean—and the surrounding shores. More than 700 islands, islets, reefs, and cays make up this region, which is mostly located on the Caribbean Plate.
The Caribbean region is diverse in terms of its economic, social, and developmental levels, making it far from being homogeneous. These nations’ gross domestic product (GDP) per capita ranges from $1,273 in Haiti to $34,864 in the Bahamas. Some of the nations’ economies are based on manufacturing, while others are reliant on tourism and other service industries.
The region, albeit, endowed with numerous natural resources is still relatively volatile, marked with myriad issues to be solved. The Caribbean currently faces challenging circumstances in a variety of areas, including the consequences of natural disasters, a lack of resources, dysfunctional financing, limited budgetary room for enacting social reforms and the weight of high levels of debt among other issues.
However, the tragedies that occurred in the Caribbean have received zero attention from the globe. Western medias’ degree and calibre of coverage of the Caribbean region has a strong odour of what post-colonial academic Edward Said called “Orientalism.” The amount of aid given to the Caribbean by Western nations, particularly the United States, has decreased significantly. Even worse, despite the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has left the region vulnerable to several threats, the US Congress is considering more budget cuts since countries are perceived to need less help. Additionally, major international organisations like the World Health Organization, have utterly failed to change the situation.
The changing scenario
The geopolitical significance of the Caribbean, which is a crossroad for the interests of several major countries, has been ignited by the transformation of important global political processes and the escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian war. It is notable that the Caribbean is currently under strain from an unparalleled confluence of distinct difficulties, given the region’s strategic importance and the several ways it has alternately contributed to and jeopardised U.S. security.
Now, the United States and China are engaged in a heated fight for regional supremacy in the Caribbeans. China has foreign aid funds worth billions of dollars operating in the area. Due to the persistent infrastructure deficit in the Caribbean, where energy costs are among the highest in the world, transportation is frequently expensive, and there are significant gaps in services like high-speed broadband, these investments are especially appealing to many of the region’s nations. Several Caribbean nations have endorsed China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the absence of additional significant funding sources.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/CIA_map_of_the_Caribbean-822e94431d4647ba9ca350ebf28eb23b.png)
The US-China geopolitical dispute over Taiwan has also been impacted by the improving diplomatic ties of Caribbean nations with China. You see, the Caribbean was among the few regions to maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan and recognize it at the international level. But during the past five years, things have altered. For instance, the Dominican Republic broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan in May 2018 and formally re-established ties with China.
Furthermore, the Russo-Ukrainian War has brought to light the vulnerabilities that Western over-reliance on Russian oil and energy supplies may cause. As a result, Western nations are searching for alternate energy a source, which has increased the significance of a resource-rich region like the Caribbean.
More actors are involved in the region today than ever before, primarily as a result of the United States’ inconsistent engagement and its continued view of the countries in the region as reliable allies. In order to end this relative U.S. absence, America would need to integrate the current initiatives into a long-term approach to the Caribbean. In addition, other powerful nations like China and even Russia would keep growing their influence. All things considered, the Caribbean is about to emerge as a significant geopolitical power.
