Caribbean Security In The Age Of Terror

The security issues which have come into prominence since the September 11 terrorist attack in the USA provide both the starting point and the focus for this comprehensive survey of contemporary security issues in the Caribbean. This volume assesses the impact of the 9/11 terrorist attack on Caribbean states and examines the institutional and operational terrorism response capacity of security agencies in the region. However, understanding security challenge and change in the Caribbean context requires a broad-based multidimensional approach; terrorism for the small, open and vulnerable nation states of the Caribbean region is a real security issue but even more so, is a range of untraditional threats like crime, drug trafficking, territorial disputes, environmental degradation and the rapid spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. How these states adapt policies and practices to adjust to the new regional and global circumstances represent the challenge and the change.

The Palgrave Handbook of Global Counterterrorism Policy examines a comprehensive range of counterterrorism policies, strategies, and practices across dozens of states and actors around the world. It covers the topics of terrorism and counterterrorism both thematically and by region, allowing for discussions about the underpinning dynamics of these fields, consideration of how terrorism and counterterrorism are evolving in the modern period, and in-depth analyses of individual states and non-state actors, and their approaches to countering terrorism and terrorist threats. It draws upon a multidisciplinary range of established scholars and upcoming new researchers from across multiple fields including political science and international relations, sociology, and history, examining both theory and practice in their respective chapters. This volume is an essential resource for scholars and practitioners alike.

Security challenges pose significant hardship for citizens of Caribbean nations. Public safety is threatened by high rates of crime – especially violent crime – in much of the region, the plague of the illicit drug trade, transnational organized crime, gangs, the current global proliferation of crimes of terrorism and related violent extremism and radicalization. The situation diminishes morale among the youth, their education and their future, and operates as a major push factor. Yet, surprisingly, there has been a scarcity of scholarly work that addresses these conditions. This interdisciplinary volume succinctly responds to the gap in criminological and security studies on the Caribbean by drawing attention to the understudied nexus of crime, violence, and security that is so pervasive in the region, and the ways in which underdevelopment re/creates environments for insecurity. The book is organized in three parts: Part one encompasses conceptualizations of crime, violence and punishment. Part two takes up country cases on crime and security. Part three addresses issues of regional security, both public and private. This timely volume will be valuable reading for scholars, students, practitioners and policy makers who share a critical interest in the scope, impact, and inter-relationality of crime, violence, and in/security in the region.

The drug trade. Crime. Terrorism. Cyber threats. In the Caribbean, these cross-border Problems Without Passports (PWPs) have shaken the very foundation of nation states. Blending case studies with regional analysis, Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith examines the regionwide impact of PWPs and the complex security and sovereignty issues in play. The interaction of local and global forces within PWPs undermines the governments’ basic goal of protecting their people against military threats, subversion, and the erosion of political, economic, and social values. Seeking solutions to these multidimensional threats requires addressing both traditional and non-traditional security and sovereignty issues. Griffith focuses on clashes between PWPs and the state from warring drug gangs in Jamaica, to Trinidad and Tobago’s one-time status as a center for terrorism-related activities, to the political resurgence of drug trafficker Desi Bouterse in Suriname, and the growing cyber threats across the region. Informed and up to date, Challenged Sovereignty explains the effects of today’s globalized problems on the contemporary Caribbean.

The book ambitiously seeks to shape our understanding of terrorism by offering a more systematic interpretation of terrorism-activism through the Stakeholders of Terrorism concept. The author presents an original assessment of terrorism broadly and specifically within the context of the Caribbean through the Stakeholders of Terrorism concept with a view to help the region enhance its counterterrorism policies (nationally & regionally) that recognises the complex inherent duality. In doing so, the author first borrows from and adds to the prevailing literature as it relates to the various explanatory frameworks (psychology, religion, strategy, culture/civilization context, politics and economic dimensions) and the specific stakeholders of terrorism (U.S. mainstream media, ISIS and Individual actors/lone wolf). The Stakeholders of Terrorism concept argues more broadly the existence of an inherent duality, a multiplicity of intangible and tangible negatives and positives that are simultaneously present in most situations concerning terrorism-activism.

The papers which comprise this publication, The Caribbean Community: The Struggle for Survival represents the Editor's choice from among thousands of articles, books and other commentaries that have provided clear and reasoned responses and solutions to inform and guide Caribbean leadership and the people of the Region. They also take a comprehensive look at regional intergration and serve as a guide to those with an interest in following the development in the Carribean Community. The book offers prescriptions for our success as a Community which are predicated on advice regarding what our political leaders should do in a normal context of the evolution of the Community. These prescriptions are based on sound scholarship and competent analysis. The book is an invaluable addition to the existing literature on Caribbean integration and should be part of any compendium on the study of the subject.

Policing the Caribbean investigates the emergence of transnational policing practises in response to drug trafficking and organized crime in ten Caribbean territories. The book addresses questions of accountability and explores how understandings of national sovereignty are shifting in the face of domestic and global insecurity.

This book examines non-traditional forms of security and expands the notion of security to include non-state actors and non-human actors. With a wide-ranging look into some of the ‘new’ security threats facing state and non-state actors today, this book is designed to specifically offer new angles on tackling these threats in the Caribbean region. It explores issues relating to viruses, war and conflict, migration, geopolitics, climate change and terrorism through multi- and interdisciplinary perspectives on global (in-)securities. Each chapter clearly elucidates the connectedness of these non-traditional threats, drawing on a remarkable number of the most recent reports and scholarly works. Most importantly, there is a lack of Caribbean studies in the security themes that are studied. This book is a much-needed and timely addition to intellectual thought on Caribbean security in an increasingly fragmented world. It will be of great interest to students of international security studies, human security, global politics, and international relations.