Institute of International Relations

• Author: Duke Pollard
• Profession: Sitting senior judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), the highest appellate municipal court of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
• Pages: 875-881

The Institute of International Relations 875

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THE INSTITUTE OF

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Decision-makers of the Caribbean Community did not envisage at any time that the

Institute of International Relations (IIR) would be the vehicle for coordinating foreign

policies of the Member States. However, the thought might have been entertained that

by being a common venue for teaching and research in international relations, students

of the Community would, over time, come to share common perspectives on international

developments, particularly as these related to the Caribbean and Latin America and

that this would constitute a sound basis for coordinated foreign policy initiatives in the

future. Given, however, that the right of a state to determine and conduct its foreign

policy is generally regarded as one of the most important attributes of sovereignty, the

willingness on the part of Member States of the Community to compromise their

autonomy of decision in the determination and conduct of foreign policy must be taken

as an indication of their willingness and readiness to effect integration of national policies

for the collective welfare.

The Institute of International Relations began as the product of a bilateral

arrangement between the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and the Government of

Switzerland in 1966. The programme of the Institute was established by the Graduate

Institute of International Studies, Geneva, in collaboration with the University of the

West Indies with which the Institute was affiliated as an autonomous institution. In

1972, the Governments of Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago

concluded an agreement for the management and financing of the Institute which

assumed a regional character. Recently, Guyana withdrew from the regime and

established its own Foreign Service Institute, thereby putting the future of the IIR as a

regional institute in considerable doubt.

The objects of the Institute as set out in its constituent instrument are to undertake

graduate teaching, research and study of international relations with particular emphasis

on the Caribbean and Latin America and to enter upon activities, including the

organisation of special programmes, courses and seminars and the provision of

consultative assistance and research for Governments, organisations and agencies of

the Region, intended to strengthen international relations and the understanding of this

branch of learning. The courses offered at the Institute are designed to achieve a three-

fold objective. Firstly, to train specialists in international relations for both the public

and private sector; secondly, to provide an academic and general education in the field

of international relations, and thirdly, to engage in relevant activities and provide