Island power
Pooling technical and political resources
Island jurisdictions – sovereign and non-sovereign – with relatively small populations, can find it challenging to carry out all their international responsibilities effectively.
These include patrolling their waters to catch poachers and smugglers or negotiating and implementing international environmental and trade treaties. The Convention on Biological Diversity and World Trade Organization agreements illustrate the legal and technical complications which can arise, often requiring extensive expertise in specific areas to help understand concerns and negotiate solutions.
Inter-island alliances and organisations can pool resources to address such issues better. Sharing specialist expertise amongst different island jurisdictions can yield more effective policy and practice outcomes. A skilled negotiator is often called upon to provide technical advice and support to several national or regional treaty negotiation teams.
The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States supports its members in economic integration, harmonisation of foreign policy, and adherence to international law, amongst other tasks. Practical outcomes include standardising currency, supreme court appeals and civil aviation services across several countries.
The Pacific Regional Environment Programme and the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission are other examples. They provide scientific, technical and policy advice to their members on environmental, sustainable development and natural resources topics. The University of the South Pacific and the University of the West Indies are regional multi-campus institutions providing tertiary education services to many islands (and beyond) while pooling administrative and maintenance costs.
Even though these organisations have different mandates and structures, they promote cooperation in island regions characterised by diverse peoples and geographies. By capturing the experience and skills from the entire region, each island jurisdiction can draw on a powerful resource for advice and support. Smallness and diversity can lead to political influence and strength through collaboration.
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