Download Committee: Organization of American States

Committee: Organization of American States
Topic: Multi-Dimensional Security Concerns in Small Island States
Country: Belize
Delegate: Jason Zukus, High Technology High School
With various security concerns to deal with and very limited resources, it is extremely
difficult for Small Island States (SIS) to achieve their national security goals. It is therefore of
the utmost importance for the Organization of American States (OAS) to discuss the multidimensional security concerns of SIS in order to properly serve many of its member states. This
issue should be important to all OAS member countries because the national security failures of
one country in the region could easily lead to a wave of related repercussions in other nearby
nations.
One major concern that must be addressed by the OAS is illegal drug trafficking. A major
issue for numerous American nations, drug trafficking is at the heart of an astounding amount of
crime in the area. For example, in 1996 an estimated 75 to 80 percent of all crimes in Trinidad
and Tobago were drug-related (Klein 104). Because there are so many small islands in the
Caribbean between South America and the United States, it is an ideal pathway for smuggling
drugs. Groups can map out numerous routes through different sequences of islands, making it
very hard to track down and cut off illicit shipments. Because of international law, states cannot
pursue suspects in other sovereign territories without consent.
Many island governments also have inadequate resources for security, making it easy for
drug traffickers to bribe officials or get around legal impediments. The Caribbean has an ideal
climate for the growth of marijuana as well. In some areas, marijuana can be grown all year
round, resulting in a drug supply that is trafficked through the region at all times. For these
reasons, approximately 30% of cocaine and even larger amounts of marijuana entering the
United States comes through the Caribbean (Ford).
This has directly affected the affairs of Caribbean nations. Not only are smugglers
moving these drugs through the Caribbean, but they are increasing the usage of them there as
well. This has crippled the work forces in many islands and led to a large increase in crime, as
previously noted. Another detrimental effect of drug trafficking is increased illegal arms trading.
In order to protect drug shipments, many traffickers will arm themselves with illegally purchased
weaponry. This has made crime in the region even more dangerous.
The OAS has already made a strong effort to combat this problem, with the formation of
the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) in 1986. This effort helped to
increase awareness and education, rehabilitation of drug addicts, and control over drug
production and transfer (“Inter-American Program…”). In 1996, this program was revamped
with the Anti-Drug Strategy in the Hemisphere, which established policies to deal with new
developments in the field. This included novel means of money laundering as well as newly
popular synthetic drugs (“Anti-Drug…”).
Illegal arms trafficking was also addressed in 1997 with the Inter-American Convention
Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and
Other Related Materials. This measure urged nations to share information concerning illegal
trafficking in order to combat the spread of illicit weapons in the region (“Inter-American
Convention…”).
Efforts should be continued in these areas, with great emphasis put on the importance of
information and resource sharing among all OAS member states. These nations must realize that
a problem left unaddressed in one country can quickly spread to other countries. Because of this,
OAS member nations should work together to allow for regional policing of traffickers across
borders. If there is no easy escape for smugglers, they will be less likely to keep trafficking drugs
and weapons. OAS members should also look to other countries for support in any of its efforts.
With many of the illegal drugs produced and transported to countries in the European Union and
the United States, it is in these groups’ interest as well to cut down on this detrimental black
market. The United States has already started spending large amounts of money on its “War on
Drugs,” such as with its $2.2 billion US Andean Strategy aid package (Winslow).
Another major issue that the OAS must deal with is global climate change. There has
been debate as to how much of various types of ecological damage can be attributed to global
warming, but the overarching consensus is that global warming is significant enough that it
needs to be addressed. In particular, many findings in Belize have shown that global climate
change must indeed be a large contributing factor to regional environmental damage.
It has been observed in many Caribbean locations that coral reefs are becoming bleached
and dying. However, many scientists attribute this to the fact that they are near large human
population centers and pollution. Thus, it is hard to separate the influence of localized human
activity from that of global warming on coral reef systems. This is why the Belize Barrier Reef
System has been so important to scientists. Because it is not close to a very large human
population and is also experiencing significant bleaching, it leads scientists to believe that global
climate change is significantly damaging the reef (“Belize…”). Thus, Belize feels that it is
extremely important to address this issue and stop further damage from occurring. According to
the International Union for Conservation of Nature, these coral reefs in the Caribbean provide an
estimated US$3.1 billion to US$4.6 billion per year to the dive tourism and fishing industries
(“Corals…”).
Therefore, more action must be taken by the OAS to bring this topic to the world’s
attention and work on researching solutions to global climate change. Countries in the OAS must
also create adequate emergency response systems for the increasingly powerful hurricanes and
storms that will result from global warming. In this respect, the Inter-American Committee on
Natural Disaster Reduction should be improved and made ready to respond to any natural
disaster. Individual SIS cannot sufficiently deal with such catastrophic events on their own; these
regional systems are therefore vital to their survival.
Works Cited
“Anti-Drug Strategy in the Hemisphere.” Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission.
1996. 2 November 2008 <http://www.cicad.oas.org/EN/basicdocuments/Strategy.asp>.
“Corals: Facing the Death Sentence.” International Union for Conservation of Nature. 23 January
2008. 7 November 2008 <http://www.iucn.org/where/global/index.cfm?uNewsID=467>.
Ford, Jess T. “Drug Control – Observations on US Interdiction in the Caribbean”. Schaffer
Library of Drug Policy. 23 May 1996. 2 November 2008
<http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/GOVPUBS/gao/gao43.htm>.
“Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms,
Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials.” Organization of American
States. November 1997. 2 November 2008
<http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/treaties/a-63.html>.
“Inter-American Program of Action of Rio De Janeiro Against the Illicit Use and Production of
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and Traffic Therein.” Inter-American Drug
Abuse Control Commission. July 1992. 2 November 2008
<http://www.cicad.oas.org/EN/basicdocuments/Rio.asp>.
Klein, Axel, Marcus Day, and Anthony Harriot. Caribbean Drugs. New York: Zed Books, 2004.
Winslow, Robert. “Comparative Criminology: North America – Belize.” Crime and Society.
2007. San Diego State University. 7 November 2008 <http://wwwrohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/rwinslow/namerica/belize.html>.