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Does US Counter-Drug Policy Affect Nationalism Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 3-20-2014 Does U.S. Counter-drug Policy Affect Nationalism in the Anglophone Caribbean? A Comparative Study on the Impact of Counter-drug Policy on Nationalism in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago Krystel Ramdathsingh [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FI14042401 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Part of the International Relations Commons, and the Other International and Area Studies Commons Recommended Citation Ramdathsingh, Krystel, "Does U.S. Counter-drug Policy Affect Nationalism in the Anglophone Caribbean? A Comparative Study on the Impact of Counter-drug Policy on Nationalism in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago" (2014). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1257. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1257 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida DOES U.S. COUNTER-DRUG POLICY AFFECT NATIONALISM IN THE ANGLOPHONE CARIBBEAN? A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COUNTER-DRUG POLICY ON NATIONALISM IN JAMAICA AND TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS by Krystel Ramdathsingh 2014 To: Dean Kenneth G. Furton College of Arts and Sciences This dissertation, written by Krystel Ramdathsingh, and entitled Does U.S. Counter-drug Policy Affect Nationalism in the Anglophone Caribbean? A Comparative Study on the Impact of Counter-drug Policy on Nationalism in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this dissertation and recommend that it be approved. _______________________________________ Paul Kowert _______________________________________ Astrid Arrarás _______________________________________ Benjamin Smith _______________________________________ Eduardo Gamarra, Major Professor Date of Defense: March 20, 2014 The dissertation of Krystel Ramdathsingh is approved. _______________________________________ Dean Kenneth G. Furton College of Arts and Sciences _______________________________________ Dean Lakshmi N. Reddi University Graduate School Florida International University, 2014 ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to first thank, Jattan Ramdathsingh and Gillian Mohammed, for their constant love, support, and encouragement, without which I would never have been able to get to this point. They have essentially created the foundation for me to get here by going above their roles as father and sister, to collectively fill the role of mother and never leaving me wanting. In addition, I am grateful to Zach Carpenter who has been my patient companion throughout this journey since I began in 2008. I promise them, my family, that I will be a better human now. I am immensely thankful to the members of my dissertation committee: Dr. Eduardo Gamarra, Dr. Paul Kowert, Dr. Astrid Arrarás, and Dr. Benjamin Smith, whose comments and feedback were of invaluable assistance to me during this process. I am endlessly grateful to Dr. Gamarra, for being a source of guidance and encouragement over the past six years. I chose each of these professors because I so thoroughly enjoyed their classes or being their assistants during the coursework period of this degree and I am honored for them to have sat on my committee and ushered me into this next phase of my career. Deepest thanks also go out to Dr. Harry Gould, who has been a dear friend and champion for my continued funding throughout this process, and my friend Ms. Kimberly Noy who has been of invaluable assistance in all things administrative from the time of my advancement to candidacy. My gratitude also extends to Nicole Warmington- Granston, Mayurakshi Chaudhuri-Biswas, and Therese Sollien for being my sounding boards, proof-readers, counselors, editors, and friends from day one. Had I known I’d make friends like these ladies, I would’ve started this grad school thing sooner. A special iii thank you goes to Nicole’s family who graciously opened their home to me and provided guidance (and transport) so I could collect data in Jamaica. Finally, I would like to thank the Department of Politics and International Relations at Florida International University for awarding me a Graduate Teaching Assistantship, which provided me the chance to attend graduate school and allowed me to work with excellent professors to gain this valuable experience. iv ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION DOES U.S. COUNTER-DRUG POLICY AFFECT NATIONALISM IN THE ANGLOPHONE CARIBBEAN? A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COUNTER-DRUG POLICY ON NATIONALISM IN JAMAICA AND TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO. by Krystel Ramdathsingh Florida International University, 2014 Miami, Florida Professor Eduardo Gamarra, Major Professor This dissertation examined the effect of United States counter-drug policy on nationalism in small states, focusing on Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. The states were selected for their roles and geostrategic importance in the illegal drug trade; Jamaica being the largest drug producing country in the Anglophone Caribbean and having strong links to the trade of Colombian cocaine, and Trinidad being a mere seven miles from the South American coast. Since U.S. counterdrug policies have frequently been viewed in the region as imperialistic, this dovetails into ideas on the perceptions of smallness and powerlessness of Caribbean nations. Hence, U.S. drug policies affect every vulnerability faced by the Caribbean, individually and collectively. Thus, U.S. drug policy was deemed the most appropriate independent variable, with nationalism as the dependent variable. In both countries four Focus Groups and one Delphi Study were conducted resulting in a total of 60 participants. Focus Group participants, recruited from the v general population, were asked about their perception of the illegal drug trade in the country and the policies their government had created. They were also asked their perception on how deeply involved the U.S. was in the creation of these policies and their opinions on whether this involvement was positive or negative. The Delphi Study participants were experts in the field of local drug policies and also gave their interpretations of the role the U.S. played in local policy creation. Coupled with this data, content analysis was conducted on various newspaper articles, press releases, and speeches made regarding the topic. In comparing both countries, it was found that there is a disconnect between government actions and the knowledge and perceptions of the general public. In Trinidad and Tobago this disconnect was more apparent given the lack of awareness of local drug policies and the utter lack of faith in government solutions. The emerging conclusion was that the impact of U.S. drug policy on nationalism was more visible in Trinidad and Tobago where there was a weaker civil society-government relationship, while the impact on nationalism was more obscure in Jamaica, which had a stronger civil-society government relationship. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION OF RESEARCH .............................................................1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................1 U.S. Drug Policy ......................................................................................................4 Context & Significance ............................................................................................9 Theoretical Framework ..........................................................................................13 Research Framework .............................................................................................18 Hypothesis, Expectation, Method ..........................................................................23 Chapter Overview ..................................................................................................24 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................26 Introduction ............................................................................................................26 Perspectives on Nationalism ..................................................................................28 U.S.-Caribbean Relations.......................................................................................46 Drug Policy ............................................................................................................50 Conclusion .............................................................................................................64 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHOD ..............................................................................65 Introduction ............................................................................................................65 Data Collection ......................................................................................................66 Data Analysis .........................................................................................................77 Limitations .............................................................................................................83
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