The presentation explores the definitions that have being used since WWII for developing countries in the international system, specially in the Caribbean

1. INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS
OF THE CARIBBEAN
Is the Third World an old
fashioned concept?
Dr. Jacqueline LAGUARDIA MARTINEZ

2. Is the Third World an old
fashioned concept?
How could the Global South
definition be any different?
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-31042808

3. The Third World
The first to use it in its modern sense was Alfred
Sauvy, a French demographer who drew a
parallel with the “third estate” during the French
revolution.
In 1952 Sauvy wrote that “this ignored,
exploited, scorned Third World, like the Third
Estate, wants to become something, too.”

4. Third World: Definitions
• It is the world made up of the ex-colonial, newly-independent,
non-aligned countries.
• It usually has being defined simultaneously as the non-aligned
world and as the global jurisdiction of poverty and under-
development.
• Like other collectives descriptions of Africa, Asia, the Middle East,
the Pacific islands and Latin America, the designation was more
about what such places were not than what they were.
• The concept was developed around a set of measurable criteria
usually relied on identifying material circumstances.
• Considering the diversity of the states involved, the definition
appeals to a common history and consciousness.
• In its origins, it was related to the idea of a “third way”.
• The decline in its use happened as the use of “globalization”

5. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Third_world_countries_map_world_2.PNG

6. • 1961: Belgrade, the Non-Aligned Summit
• 1964: Group of 77 at the first UNCTAD
• By the 60’s: Main focus was anticolonialism
• By the 70’s: Main focus was development (the 70’s
was proclaimed the “Development Decade” by the UN).
• From the 70´s: Attempts to reform the international
economic system (the New International Economic
Order) and development of a common identity
(common cause and common action).
• In the 80’s: The “development momentum” was lost
• In the 90’s: The end of the Cold War changed the
rhetoric in the international discourse

7. The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)
• It is a group of states which are not formally aligned with or
against any major power bloc.
• The purpose of the organization is to ensure the national
independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security
of non-aligned countries in their struggle against imperialism,
colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism, and all forms of foreign
aggression, occupation, domination, interference or
hegemony as well as against great power and bloc politics.
• As of 2012, the movement has 120 members and 17 observer
countries.
• The countries represent nearly two-thirds of the United
Nations’ members and contain 55% of the world population.

8. • The 16th
NAM summit took place in Tehran, Iran, in
2012.
• Representatives from over 150 countries attended
(attendance at the highest level includes 27 presidents, 2
kings and emirs, 7 prime ministers, 9 vice presidents, 2
parliament spokesmen and 5 special envoys).
• At the summit, Iran took over from Egypt as Chair of the
Non-Aligned Movement for the period 2012 to 2015.
• The 17th
Summit of the Non Aligned Movement is to be
held in Caracas, Venezuela, in 2015.
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)

9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NAM_Members.svg
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)

10. Latin American and Caribbean Members
• Antigua and Barbuda (2006)
• Bahamas (1983)
• Barbados (1983)
• Belize (1976)
• Bolivia (1979)
• Chile (1973)
• Colombia (1983)
• Cuba (1961)
• Dominica (2006)
• Dominican Republic (2000)
• Ecuador (1983)
• Grenada (1979)
• Guatemala (1993)
• Guyana (1970)
• Haiti (2006)
• Honduras (1995)
• Jamaica (1970)
• Nicaragua (1979)
• Panama (1976)
• Peru (1973)
• Saint Kitts and Nevis (2006)
• Saint Lucia (1983)
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (2003)
• Suriname (1983)
• Trinidad and Tobago (1970)
• Venezuela (1989)

11. Group of 77
• The Group of 77 at the United Nations is a coalition of
developing nations.
• The group was founded by the "Joint Declaration of the
Seventy-Seven Countries" issued at the United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
• It was designed to promote its members’ collective economic
interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity
in the United Nations.
• There were 77 founding members of the organization, but by
March 2014 the organization had since expanded to 133
member countries.
• South Africa holds the Chairmanship for 2015.

12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:G_77.svg
Group of 77

13. Caribbean Members
Founding members
•Cuba
• Dominican Republic
• Haiti
• Jamaica
• Trinidad and Tobago
Other current members
•Antigua and Barbuda
•Bahamas
•Barbados
•Belize
•Dominica
•Guyana
•Saint Kitts and Nevis
•Saint Lucia
•Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
•Suriname

14. Summit of Heads of State and
Government of the Group of 77
and China
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, June, 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et-KYhpAjGQ

15. Which are the Small Island
Developing States (SIDS)?
?

16. UN Members (38)
AIMS (Atlantic,
Indian Ocean and
South China Sea)
1.Bahréin
2.Cape Verde
3.Comores
4.Guinea-Bissau
5.Maldivas
6.Mauricio
7.Sao Tomé y
Príncipe
8.Seychelles
9.Singapur
Pacific
10.Fiji
11.Kiribati
12.Islas Marshall
13.Micronesia
14.Nauru
15.Palau
16.Papua Nueva Guinea
17.Samoa
18.Islas Solomon
19.Timor-Leste
20.Tonga
21.Tuvalu
22.Vanuatu
Caribbean
23.Antigua y Barbuda
24.Bahamas
25.Barbados
26.Belice
27.Cuba
28.Dominica
29.República Dominicana
30.Granada
31.Guyana
32.Haití
33.Jamaica
34.San Kitts y Nevis
35.Santa Lucía
36.San Vicente y las Granadinas
37.Surinam
38.Trinidad y Tobago

17. Non-UN Members/Associate Members of the Regional
Commissions (19)
1. American Samoa
10.Guadalupe
11.Anguilla
12.Guam
13.Aruba
14.Martinica
15.Bermuda
16.Montserrat
17.Islas Vírgenes Británicas
10.Nueva Caledonia
11.Islas Caimán
12.Niue
13.Comunidad de las Marianas
14. Puerto Rico
15.Islas Cook
16. Turcos y Caicos
17.Curacao
18. Islas Vírgenes U.S.
19.Polinesia Francesa

18. http://www.scidev.net/global/water/feature/ocean-science-development-sids-
facts-figures.html

19. http://www.scidev.net/global/water/feature/ocean-science-development-sids-facts-figures.html

20. Why/Where the confusion?
How are SIDS defined?
Small
Island
Developing
States
?

21. SIDS population
(millions 2012)
Source: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs 2014

22. Small Island Developing States have been recognized
as a special case for development by the UN system,
and by the entire world.
The inherent vulnerabilities pose specific and unique
challenges to development, such as distance to
markets, achieving economies of scale, high costs of
transport and extreme vulnerability to shocks, and
therefore require specific assistance that is targeted.
SIDS are an auto-categorization group
Most of them are Members of AOSIS

23. • The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) is a coalition of small
island and low-lying coastal countries that share similar
development challenges and concerns about the environment,
especially their vulnerability to the adverse effects of global climate
change.
• AOSIS has a membership of 44 States and observers, drawn from all
oceans and regions of the world.
• 39 are UN members, close to 28 % of developing countries, and 20% of
the UN’s total membership.
• Together, SIDS communities constitute some 5% of the global
population.
• It functions primarily as an ad hoc lobby and negotiating voice for SIDS
within the United Nations system.
• The Alliance does not have a formal charter. There is no regular budget,
nor a secretariat. Member States work together primarily through their
New York diplomatic Missions to the United Nations.
• Major policy decisions are taken at ambassadorial-level plenary sessions.

24. AOSIS
1. Antigua and Barbuda
2. Bahamas
3. Barbados
4. Belize
5. Cape Verde
6. Comoros
7. Cook Islands
8. Cuba
9. Dominica
10. Dominican Republic
11. Fiji
12. Federated States of Micronesia
13. Grenada
14. Guinea-Bissau
15. Guyana
16. Haiti
17. Jamaica
18. Kiribati
19. Maldives
20. Marshall Islands
21. Mauritius
22. Nauru
23. Niue
24. Palau
25. Papua New Guinea
26. Samoa
27. Singapore
28. Seychelles
29. Sao Tome and Principe
30. Solomon Islands
31. St. Kitts and Nevis
32. St. Lucia
33. St. Vincent and the Grenadines
34. Suriname
35. Timor-Leste
36. Tonga
37. Trinidad and Tobago
38. Tuvalu
39. Vanuatu
Observers
40.American Samoa
41.Netherlands Antilles
42.Guam
43.U.S. Virgin Islands
44.Puerto Rico

25. • It was formed in November 1990 as a negotiating body for the first
meeting of the intergovernmental negotiating committee. As a direct
result, language on SIDS was included in the final text of the United
Nations
• AOSIS has enabled small islands to negotiate in international fora for
positive change from a collective position.
• This has helped to gain greater recognition for the concerns of small
islands in the United Nations organizations but has had limited impact
on the global political stage where global core nations (North America,
Australasia, Europe and Japan) dominate.
• AOSIS usually is slightly ahead of the ‘next most radical’ negotiating
position (often held by the EU), for example updating their temperature
and GHG concentration targets to 1.58C and 350 ppm
• AOSIS suggested thresholds for sea-level rise and the avoidance of
adverse effects on SIDS as a benchmark for climate change mitigation
success
• Key members of AOSIS have always been frontrunners, supporting the
Alliance position but separately advocating further action

26. AOSIS defending SIDS interests
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MRIHoODUfg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1jVA8qH_O8

27. Third International Conference on Small Island
Developing States (SIDS Conference)
• September 1- 4 2014, in Apia, Samoa
• Attended by 21 Heads of State and Government, as well as 3,500
delegates.
• Theme: “Sustainable development of the SIDS, through genuine
and lasting partnerships”
• 300 partnerships were registered towards the SIDS Conference
(http://www.sids2014.org/partnerships).
• In parallel with plenary discussions, six multi-stakeholder
Partnership Dialogues took place on the themes of: sustainable
economic development; climate change and disaster risk management
(DRM); social development, health and non-communicable diseases
(NCDs), youth and women; sustainable energy; oceans, seas and
biodiversity; and water and sanitation, food security and waste
management.

28. Small Islands Developing States (SIDS)
THE SIDS PROGRAMME OF ACTION:
1.- Climate Change and Sea-
level rise
9.- Biodiversity Resources
2.- Natural and Environmental
Disasters
10.- National Institutions and Administrative
Capacity
3.- Management of Wastes 11.- Regional Institutions and Technical
Cooperation
4-. Coastal and Marine
Resources
12.- Transport and Communication
5.- Freshwater Resources 13.- Science and Technology
6-. Land Resources 14.- Human Resource Development
7.- Energy Resources 15.- Implementation, Monitoring and
Review.
8.- Tourism

29. REGIONAL PREPARATORY PROCESS
– Jamaica Regional Preparatory Meeting (July 2013) - KINGSTON
OUTCOME DOCUMENT
– Inter-Regional Preparatory SIDS Meeting –Barbados (August 2013)
– CARICOM Regional preparatory Meeting– (August 2014)
CARICOM PARTICIPATION IN SAMOA
– Heads of Government from Barbados, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis
– Ministerial/official representation from Antigua and Barbuda, The
Bahamas, Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and
the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
– Barbados PM chaired multi-stakeholder dialogue on Sustainable
Economic Development
– CARICOM SG chaired a Side event on Financing for Sustainable
Development
– Bilateral Meetings held with - UNEP Executive Director & GEF CEO
CARICOM PARTICIPATION

30. Twenty years after the Barbados Action Plan
• Lack of follow-through, lack of finance.
• Public Health as a Caribbean vulnerability.
• Crime and insecurity as one “transversal” problem associated to
Caribbean vulnerabilities and sustained development.
• Debt problem.
• GDP per capita as the only “indicator” to legitimize access to
international concessional funds.
• Technology transfer is needed.
• Need to improve data and indicators on “Caribbean
vulnerabilities and its social and economic impacts” (CARICOM
project on environmental statistics).
• Insufficient intra and inter-regional cooperation.

31. Twenty years after the Barbados Action Plan (1994)
• Caribbean SIDS are even more vulnerable and fragile
(economic, social and environmentally) nowadays.
• International cooperation and multilateral commitments to
the region below the requirements to addressing critical
areas: a) capacity constraint issues, b) poverty reduction
challenges and, c) the region’s vulnerability to external
shocks and climate change impacts.
• Under the principle of common but differentiated
responsibilities, international community must be
encouraged to base their overall support on partner
countries national strategies, institutions and procedures.

32. OAD (1990-2011)
Source: United Nations Department of
Economic and Social Affairs 2014

33. Twenty years after the Barbados Action Plan
Current world scenario and certain principles /
practices established at the global economic
institutions have diminished the political will and the
resources for international development cooperation.
Caribbean SIDS should rely much more on their
domestic and regional resources than ever before to
overcome the economic, social, and environmental
challenges ahead.

34. Twenty years after the Barbados Action Plan
• Regional discussions on SIDS should be anchored in a
coordinated approach through a regional consensus
building process at CARICOM.
• It’s necessary to examine respective national development
plans in an effort to identify similarities (to ventilate
regional viewpoints and solidify a Caribbean approach).
• NGOs, Civil Society, Private Sector organizations and
universities should play a greater role in the process of
regional consensus building and implementation.

35. • Success of SAMOA pathway will be measured by the
implementation and follow-up initiatives
• Requires genuine and durable partnerships;
• Barbados PM –establishment of inter and intra-regional SIDS inter-
governmental mechanisms in the three SIDS Regions to facilitate
implementation of the SAMOA Pathway. Barbados offered itself as
a hub for inter and intra-regional SIDS cooperation.
• Trinidad (endorsed by AOSIS) –Proposal for a Global Compact
reflecting the collective political will of SIDS to support
implementation of the SIDS agenda.
• Intra and inter-regional collaboration and cooperation, sharing of
best practices and successful initiatives; joint advocacy by SIDS
through regional secretariats. (Preliminary meeting on the margins of
the 2014 UNGA).
BEYOND SAMOA

36. Growing global recognition
about small states in the
international system
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNC5um1_VUE

37. Some questions to think about:
• How do (Caribbean) small states survive in
today’s world?
• Do (Caribbean) small states differ also in
other respects? If so, how?
• What are the benefits and costs of being
small?
• Is smallness an everlasting condition?