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2.2.3
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Crime and Terrorism. The small Caribbean states
are increasingly exposed to the former (drugs being a special menace) and could be both breeding grounds for and victims of the latter. A protecting state like Britain finds it hard to keep the lid on these problems (vide drug
trafficking in the Caribbean). It can be, and is, argued however that at least we have wider international experience
not least of the financial ramifications - and larger
resources to deploy than any fledgling government could
muster. Independent territories that turned into drug and
terrorist entrepôts could be costly to Western interests;
and specifically national interests too if the UK became a
target for Caribbean based drug traders. The question is
how much is HMG prepared to pay to make a contribution to
prevention.
2.2.4
Attitudes to Dependent Status. British and
international attitudes to dependent status have altered for these and other reasons. De-colonisation has been largely
dropped from the agenda of the developing world, and the
Commonwealth is now more concerned with ways of giving small
states additional protection. The evident lack of pressure (indeed lack of enthusiasm) for independence in the
territories themselves has been a further factor.
Domestically Grenada and the Falklands both tended to
highlight and rally support for our continuing obligations,
and there was a marked lack of outcry, domestically as well
as internationally, over our resuming a greater degree of
control in the Turks and Caicos. It is less clear whether
there is unconditional support in the UK for large long term costs (vide the Falklands) when things go wrong.
2.2.5
Alternative Options. While many theoretical
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options still exist as described in Section IV of the
Research Department paper no alternatives have presented themselves in the last 13 years that generally appeal to
dependent populations while giving them the necessary
security and sound government. Regional security
associations are in their infancy, and neither our leading
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