American Foreign Policy in the English-speaking Caribbean

From the Eighteenth to the Twenty-first Century

Samantha S. S. Chaitram

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9783030459857
• eBook ISBN: 9783030459864
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

This book traces American engagement in the English-speaking Caribbean from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century, and is the first to examine the policies of Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump in this context. Focusing on The Bahamas, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana as case studies, the book describes the growth of the English-speaking Caribbean and highlights American interest and foreign relations in this region from European discovery up through the post-9/11 era to today (1492-2019). The book demonstrates the unique relationship between America and the former British colonies, shedding light on U.S. foreign policy with the Caribbean in general and at a bilateral level with the four selected countries, providing a useful survey for students, scholars, diplomats, policymakers, governments officials, and anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of U.S. – Caribbean relations.

© The Author(s) 2020

S. S. S. ChaitramAmerican Foreign Policy in the English-speaking Caribbeanhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45986-4_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction

Samantha S. S. Chaitram¹

(1)

Princes Town, Trinidad and Tobago

Samantha S. S. Chaitram

Abstract

This chapter introduces the subject of American foreign policy in the English-speaking Caribbean from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century. It discusses the literature on US—Caribbean foreign relations, the methodology adopted to select the countries for this study, the theoretical framework applied, and some of the key findings on US interest and engagement over the centuries. It then presents a roadmap of how the book will proceed.

Keywords

International relations theorySecurityEconomic interestAmerican foreign policyForeign aidEngagement

End Abstract

In 1857, the American firm the Merrimac Oil Company drilled the first oil well in Trinidad. By 1908, Trinidad had marked its first year of commercial oil production, and by the end of World War I, American oil drillers had made their appearance in the British colony. Toward the end of the nineteenth century large deposits of bauxite were discovered in British Guiana. In 1916, the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) established its presence in the only British territory on the South American continent. In 2008, US oil and gas giant ExxonMobil began oil and gas explorations in Guyana and in 2015 the first oil well was drilled. As of January 2020, ExxonMobil has made its sixteenth offshore oil discovery in Guyana.¹ In the 1960s during the Cold War, the US government funded covert action programs to bring down the left-leaning government of Dr. Cheddi Jagan in British Guiana. In the 1970s, Jamaica’s Prime Minister Michael Manley was convinced that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was trying to destabilize Jamaica. During the twenty-first century, both Guyana and Jamaica became the largest recipients of US foreign assistance in the English-speaking Caribbean. In 2016, President Obama signed into law the United States-Caribbean Strategic Engagement Act of 2016 (H.R. 4939) and in 2017 the US government established a framework for American engagement with the region via its Caribbean 2020 strategy. Why these examples and what do they demonstrate? Over the centuries, the United States has impacted the economic, political, and social landscape of the English-speaking Caribbean. Historically, the English-speaking Caribbean has always been of strategic importance to the United States, mostly because of US economic interests and security concerns, the two main drivers of US foreign policy in the region over the last four centuries.

This book is about America’s foreign policy in the English-speaking Caribbean from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century. It is not about the Caribbean’s foreign policy toward the United States. This study traces American political and diplomatic history in a region that has been given very little scholarly attention, highlighting the periods of US interest and engagement over the centuries in the Bahamas, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana. The West Indies, being former British colonies, developed a unique relationship with the United States, one quite distinct from the Spanish or French colonies. By the end of the nineteenth century, Great Britain had essentially passed the hegemonic baton to America, entrusting her interests in the Western hemisphere to the United States. This Anglo-American alliance shaped the future of US—Anglophone Caribbean relations. Levels of engagement with each country differed in each time period, reflecting the heterogenous nature of Caribbean countries and the nuances of American foreign policy in small states. Hemispheric security threats over the centuries and strong economic linkages between the Caribbean and the United States drove US policies and actions in the region. The United States has always viewed a stable and prosperous Caribbean as a vital part of hemispheric stability. Viewed historically, this book demonstrates that, like any relationship, while there were periods of tension, intervention, disagreements, and perceived neglect, America and the Caribbean always recognized that the bonds between them were too strong and significant, and so a cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship always prevailed. The English-speaking Caribbean countries, given their democratic stability and geographic proximity, will continue to be viewed as “natural friends and natural allies” of the United States.²

Why the English-speaking Caribbean?

Most books on American foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere have focused principally on Latin America. The Caribbean is often lumped into the category ‘Latin America and the Caribbean’ but these generalizations made by scholars do not present an accurate picture of US—Caribbean relations. For example, Robert A. Pastor admitted that his book Exiting the Whirlpool: US Foreign Policy Toward Latin America and the Caribbean (2001) “is about U.S. policy toward all of Latin America, but like U.S. policy, it devotes a disproportionate time to the Caribbean Basin”. The only Caribbean countries mentioned in Peter H. Smith’s book Talons of the Eagle: Latin America, the United States and the World (2012) are Cuba and Haiti. Frank O. Mora and Jeanne A.K. Hey in their book Latin American and Caribbean Foreign Policy (2003) include one article on the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

There are several historical books written on individual English-speaking countries in the Caribbean. These have focused on US policies and actions during a particular time period. For example, Harvey R. Neptune’s Caliban and the Yankees: Trinidad and the United States Occupation (2007) examines the period during World War II when the Americans established a military base in Trinidad. Jason C. Parker in his book Brother’s Keeper: The United States, Race and Empire in the British Caribbean 1937-1962 examines Anglo-American Caribbean relations during the decolonization of the English-speaking Caribbean. Stephen G. Rabe in his book U.S. Intervention in British Guyana: A Cold War Story (2005) explores US covert intervention in British Guiana between 1953 and 1969. Anthony P. Maingot and Wilfredo Lozano focus on the political history of the Caribbean in their book The United States and the Caribbean: Transforming Hegemony and Sovereignty (2005). Maingot and Lozano examine US—Caribbean relations during the Cold War and post-Cold War eras, focusing on the case studies of Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago. However, there is no book which looks at American foreign policy in the Caribbean in the twenty-first century from Presidents George W. Bush to Donald J. Trump. Nor is there a book which covers the political and diplomatic history of the United States and the English-speaking Caribbean countries comparatively over the centuries.

Scholarship on American foreign policy in the English-speaking Caribbean is quite scant compared to studies on the Hispanic and Francophone Caribbean. Hotspot countries like Cuba and Haiti have captured the attention of Latin American and Caribbean academics, and there is a vast literature on US policies in these countries. Scholarly neglect of the English-speaking Caribbean may give the impression that the region is not important to the United States. Richard Bernal (2013) argued that the English-speaking Caribbean was unimportant to the United States by simply counting how many times Secretaries of State and Presidents mentioned the English-speaking Caribbean. However, an exami...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction
• 2. The Growth of the English-speaking Caribbean and American Relations (1492–1945)
• 3. From European Domination to American Hegemony: The Caribbean in the Context of US Foreign Policy (1823–1945)
• 4. United States—Caribbean Relations During the Cold War (1945–1989)
• 5. The United States and the Caribbean in the Post-Cold War Era (1990s to 2000s)
• 6. From President George W. Bush to President Barack Obama (2001–2016)
• 7. The Impact of the Trump Administration on US: Caribbean Relations (2017–2019)
• 8. Conclusion
• Back Matter