Author: Richard L. Bernal

Publisher:

Published: 2014-04

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 9789766377519

Five hundred years after Christopher Columbus set out to find China and inadvertently stumbled on the Caribbean, China is emerging as a prominent economic player in the Caribbean and Latin America. In this extremely thoughtful, timely and important study, Ambassador Richard Bernal brings his considerable political and economic expertise to bear on the powerful, complex relations between the global superpower and all the small Caribbean states except Cuba. Given the inexorable global reach of China, this book deserves the serious attention of scholars and policymakers everywhere as the Caribbean and Latin America begin a new era. Franklin W. Knight Leonard and Helen R. Stulman Professor of History Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD USA ... a must read for anyone who cares about the region and its future....Richard Bernal brings weight and experience to one of today's most important issues. By helping us understand China's global thinking in a Caribbean context, he has made an essential contribution our knowledge. David Jessop Executive Director The Caribbean Council, London Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, China's economic relationship with the countries of the Caribbean has grown significantly. While most of the burgeoning literature on China's relations with Latin America and the Caribbean, focus primarily on Latin America, Dragon in the Caribbean is arguably the first book to examine China's relationship with the Caribbean. An overview is given of China's changing position and rise in power in the global landscape as well as its growing economic and political presence in the Caribbean. The nature, extent and character of this development is then examined and analysed by reviewing development assistance, trade and foreign investment in the Caribbean. Bernal then outlines some of the considerations and motivations of China and the countries of the Caribbean for deepening their relationship and discusses the challenges and opportunities for the Caribbean that this relationship presents in the immediate future. The material is enhanced by an extensive table detailing year by year and country by country visits, agreements and projects grounding the economic, trade and technological cooperation between CARICOM countries and China. Heavily referenced from books, international and regional newspaper and journal articles as well as online resources, Dragon in the Caribbean adds significantly to the understanding and appreciation of the policymaking powers at play in the relationship between the Caribbean and China.