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#117 The Caribbean Presence: National and Local-Level Dimensions of Contemporary U.S.-Caribbean Relations: A Rapporteur's Report

By Drexel G. Woodson

From the Introduction

The independent countries, overseas territories, and other political entities of the Caribbean region are small in land area and population size by world standards. Given the smallness of the islands, perhaps the most striking feature of Caribbean societies is the contrast between their remarkable diversity and their fundamental similarity. Unified by broad similarities of external economic and political history, each Caribbean society has an internal history which has shaped its sociocultural , economic, and political development in distinctive ways.

The complex connection between diversity and similarity is exemplified by regional variation with regard to ethnic and racial composition, language, religion, nationality , and other sociocultural characteristics. This state of affairs is due in part to patterns of settlement and colonization which began with Columbus' discovery in 1492. It is bound up as well with the fate of socioeconomic and political institutions organized more often than not for the benefit of external groups and interests. Diversity and similarity have also been results of the continuous movement of Caribbean peoples, first from the Old World to the New, then within and between islands, and, in more recent years, out of the region altogether.

This essay attempts to summarize the major themes discussed at a January 1982 conference on "The Contemporary Caribbean and Its Impact on the United States" sponsored by the Latin American Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. It aims to provide a record of the views expressed by panelists, commentators, and participants during the formal conference sessions and in general discussion. It is also hoped that this record might establish a basis for further investigation and discussion of Caribbean affairs and the dynamics of U.S. - Caribbean
relations

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The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action.  Read more