Abstract
The world is rapidly changing, prominent among the shifts is the onset a new era of globalization characterized by a multipolar distribution of global power, greater economic fragmentation, climate change, rapid advancements in technology and digital integration. These changes inevitably fuel the need to revaluate the validity and utility of old concepts and practices in this new context. This paper interrogates the idea of sovereignty as it relates to regional integration as a tool of development in this new dispensation. It seeks to fill a paucity in the literature by examining the idea of sovereignty as a key contributor to usurping regionalism and by extension compounding development challenges. Using a case study methodology and on the basis of documentary analysis, the paper examines Caribbean regionalism as a unique example to advance this argument. The Caribbean consists of vulnerable small island developing states, with open economies which were pawns in, and have been at the forefront of the globalization agenda from the beginning. Traditionally, Caribbean nations embarked on regional integration as a method of overcoming development constraints. Today, development is under siege by the sovereign choices governments make at the expense of pooling resources and regional cooperation. The paper thereby makes a contribution to the international relations literature by reevaluating sovereignty and inter – governmentalism as viable concepts for the advancement of regionalism and the development of small states in this new dispensation.
Presenters
Annita MontouteSenior Lecturer, The Institute of International Relations, The University of the West Indies, Tunapuna-Piarco, Trinidad and Tobago
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Sovereignty; Regional Integration; Caribbean; Development; New Globalization
