ABSTRACT

Collective self-reliance has become widely accepted as the most appropriate strategy for overcoming the constraints on development experienced by the Third World, both at the national and international levels. Collective self-reliance appears contradictory, particularly at the international level, where it is being enunciated simultaneously with the declaration to establish a New International Economic Order. The adoption of collective self-reliance at the regional level presupposes complementary policies of self-reliant development at the national level and a willingness on the part of national governments to coordinate their planning to achieve appropriate complementarity in policy and production. Caribbean Community (CARICOM) appears to lack the support of the population, which could bring to bear the requisite influence on decision makers at the national level that would force them to pursue national policies consistent with the objectives of collective self-reliance at the regional level. CARICOM has demonstrated the wide gap between the declaration of goals of self-reliance and their transformation into concrete and successful policies.