Coping with 9/11: State and Civil Society Responses

• Author: Isabel Jaramillo Edwards
• Pages: 371-390

- 371 -

Coping with 9/11

Coping with 9/11:

State and Civil Society

Responses

Isabel Jaramillo Edwards

Black Holes cannot be seen, and so they have to be detected by observing

the environment around them.1

Introduction

The reorganisation of the global landscape in terms of geoeconomics

and globalisation is a fact. The problem is the character of the changes

taking place and the influence of hegemony, geopolitics and unilateralism,

which must be considered in the context of these changes. The new global

environment would require a new economic and financial framework in a

world where contradictions mainly occur on the North/South axis. September

11, 2001 signalled transformations in the international environment and in

US policy. In a context of undisputed American hegemony, multilateralism,

international organisations and a legal framework are especially important

for small countries.

This chapter will focus on the Caribbean’s involvement in the

international arena and the impact of 9/11 and its consequences for the area;

issues of the security agenda – in general and in some specific cases – and the

need for degrees of cooperation in the interest of the Caribbean Basin.

Conclusions look at considerations on the main issues analysed, pointing out

those considered relevant to the medium- and long-term prospects for the

region.

15

- 372 -

Caribbean Security in the Age of Terror

The Global and Hemispheric Landscape

The international landscape is undergoing a period of widespread

transition, with the convergence, among others, of a trend to multipolarity,

military unipolarity, globalisation with a resulting growing interdependence2

(globalism in the economic, military, environmental, social and cultural

areas), a third technological revolution in an interdependent and

transnationalised environment, the immediacy of communications and the

re-emergence of conflicts that, although latent, did not surface in the bipolar

context. Moreover, there is a struggle for the inclusion in geoeconomic and

geopolitical spaces in a world marked by multidimensionality and a pervasive

insecurity resulting in increased complexity and uncertainty.3 The deceleration

of global economy and the financial crises were part of the global landscape

in which the United States redefined its security interests4 and its foreign

priorities.5

The uncertainty arising from an international context in transition is

reflected in inter-American relations, traditionally characterised by the limited

interest of the United States in the continent and by a policy that is still

driven by crises.6 On the basis of geopolitics, the Caribbean Basin7 – because

of its geographic proximity and levels of interdependence – will receive

priority, while the Southern Cone will temporarily be relatively less significant.

The effects of social problems in Latin American and Caribbean societies

– poverty, marginalisation, dissatisfied minorities, ethnic discord, lack of

social justice – are central elements to consider within the hemispheric

framework. They tend to create insecurity and have the potential to give rise

to instability. As long as the tensions caused by these problems are present,

there is the potential for the emergence of new conflicts. Recent economic

troubles have fuelled unemployment, crime, and poverty, undermining the

already vulnerable social fabric of Caribbean societies. At the same time,

financial crises8 and the gradual deceleration of the global economy contribute

to economic insecurity. Conflicts that did not surface in the bipolar setting

now take the forefront: ethnic9 and migration issues, drugs and drug trafficking,

terrorism, and traditional conflicts, such as those related to border disputes.

Convergence and contradictions between the United States, as a

hegemonic power, and Latin America and the Caribbean bias the security

agenda. The concepts of security in an international environment in transition

will be closely linked among themselves and also to social and economic

factors. Under the guise of the transnationalisation of security systems, there