ABSTRACT
This chapter is an examination of the historical reasons for United States (US) engagement, the patterns of US involvement, and the changing interests in the Caribbean. In the twentieth century, US policy toward the Caribbean has been the sum of the answers to a set of recurring questions. Two contemporary strategies-the liberal Democratic and the conservative Republican are contrasted and finally the Reagan administration's approach to the region is assessed. The commonwealth Caribbean, representing ten states, has a total population of 5.7 million, about the population of Hong Kong with considerably less economic muscle. The Carter administration was the first in US history to focus on the Caribbean in the absence of a security threat, or as it turned out, before rather than after such a threat. Each tendency uses instruments suited to these interests--the liberal tendency stresses human rights and development; the conservative tendency views threats as more immediate and relies on more direct uses of power.
