Politics and Development in the Caribbean Basin : Central America and the Caribbean in the New World Order

This wide ranging thematic and comparative text analyses the origins and nature of the developmental and political crises of the region and the reasons for their recent intensification. It covers all the Central American states and the largest Caribbean island territories - Jamaica, Cuba, The Dominican Republic, Haiti and Puerto Rico - as well as Panama and Grenada, assessing their common experiences as small economies living in the shadow of the United States but also highlighting key differences. "Politics and Development in the Caribbean Basin provides a broad-ranging introduction to the political economy of Central America and the Caribbean and its position in the emerging global order." "The book analyses the multiple crises which exploded in the region in the 1980s, from civil wars to a reassertion of US hegemony and precipitous social collapse, and traces the roots of this 'lost decade' in the politics and development policies of earlier years. It also assesses the attempts by revolutionary regimes in Cuba, Nicaragua and Grenada to create alternative models of development and the reasons for their failure." "In contrast to most studies of the region, Jean Grugel covers the countries of the Central American isthmus as well as the larger independent territories of the insular Caribbean, which, she argues, bear many common attributes of a 'Caribbean model of development' characterized by small economies with acute vulnerability to external influence and extreme concentration of internal power."--Jacket Front Matter....Pages i-xii Introduction: The Caribbean Model of Development....Pages 1-28 The Historical Evolution of the Caribbean Basin....Pages 29-60 Making Politics: Class, Ethnicity and Nation....Pages 61-93 The Political Systems of the Region....Pages 94-124 The International Relations of the Caribbean Basin....Pages 125-158 Regional Development....Pages 159-195 Revolution: Cuba, Nicaragua and Grenada....Pages 196-231 Conclusion: Is the Crisis Over?....Pages 232-243 Back Matter....Pages 244-270 "Introductory text to political and economic development of the Caribbean and Central America. Useful for undergraduate courses"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57.