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In my opinion, it is very important for the Caribbean to strive to be integrated and not have to rely on first world countries to allow our region to be known. The first world countries have already developed an identity throughout the world that they are known for, therefore if the Caribbean utilises their strengths such as tourism and culture, we too can make a name for ourselves and become unique in the vast scheme of the globe. If we restrict ourselves and become part of a global village, our culture will face the brunt of it and sooner or later disappear. To lose one's culture is the biggest defeat and as generations go by more and more of our traditions and history will be lost. Similarly, by utilising our strengths we can develop our economy and land with what knowledge is gained throughout our promoting of our culture and also reinvest what is gained through tourism in order to raise the standard of living in the region. Some islands only window dress their land and give outsiders a false outlook on their land by doing this. It not only disappoints visitors but also puts a bad reputation on the region in its entirety. In essence, the Caribbean has a lot to offer and a lot more development to do so by promoting our strengths we can become part of the "first world club" and allow our identity to speak for itself and not our history to define us. Therefore, restricting ourselves to being citizens of a global village would not prove beneficial to us at all. The world does not need to be governed by one nation, one culture or one language but should be proud of the multiplicity of its design.

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As of the 21st century, certain countries seem to be more powerful than others with respect to their currency and political status. Therefore, many leaders believe it would prove to be more beneficial if one system is deemed the global superior. By doing this a currency can be chosen, for example, to become the dominant world wide. The aspiration to become citizens of the global village may seem advantageous especially to smaller countries like the Caribbean but through this many aspects that make the region unique will be lost. In other words, globalisation in relation to the Caribbean refers to the integration of the world economies, predominantly through trade and financial flows. It also deals with the emigration of people, in terms of labour, and knowledge across the borders, which inherently promotes international trade.

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The Caribbean as a whole have found common grounds in many aspects in order to unite and assist one another to propel development. This agreement allows for the stability of the participants and continuous growth for the countries. This cooperation is usually prompted with an economic integration, for example the organisation CARICOM. This organisation allows members to trade with one another on the basis of profit maximisation, as their main goal is economic integration. It gives access to the many goods that are available in the Caribbean since the land is fruitful to many types of goods. However, many problems have become evident due to the fading away of trade preferences, on the basis of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) system, with its requirements of liberalization of economies and markets. CARICOM not only promotes the integration of its members but also their different cultures which makes it important to the maintenance of the region in its entirety. Caribbean integration demonstrates how powerful the region can be by uniting its forces for a desired goal. The region has more growth to accomplish and by continuing to push for integration these goals may also be achieved.

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Examples of Caribbean organisations that promote Caribbean integration

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Examples of Caribbean organisations that promote Caribbean integration

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There are many instances of how the Caribbean is united nowadays but an example that comes to mind is the West Indian cricket team. This is a good example because the players that make up the West Indian cricket team all come from different islands in the Caribbean. This demonstrates how different people from different islands can come together to reach the same goal by promoting the region at the same time. Without organisations like these, the region would not have a chance to showcase teamwork and relations with the islands.
Another example is one aforementioned , CARIFESTA. This proves to be one of the best promoters in the Caribbean for Caribbean literature and arts. They help display the multi-faceted talents that make up the region and also give artists and writers the avenue to display their works. This allows the arts to flourish more in the Caribbean which has always been a problem and still up to today has a lot of developing to do

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Culture as an aspect of regional integration

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Culture as an aspect of regional integration

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Culture plays an important role in the manifesting of a country's identity and that of its citizens. Therefore, for a smaller region, such as the Caribbean, one should promote its multi-cultural aspects instead of conforming to those of the "foreigners". This has plagued the region since the colonial times as the British tried to reform us in their image by pushing their religion and language onto us. But, we now as a post-colonial region should become pioneers of our traditions, languages and religions by uniting and empowering our culture. By doing this, the Caribbean becomes more colourful in a sense, since its diversity will make it unique to other countries and regions. This will help the Caribbean develop since the economy will prosper from the culture with respect to tourism. In that way, the Caribbean will become a tourist attraction due to its flourishing culture. CARIFESTA has been one of those organisations that help propel the culture and arts in the Caribbean on a greater scale by making it a festival acknowledging all the different types of cultures that are present in the Caribbean. It aids in encouraging citizens to be proud of their roots and attract those that go abroad for the arts to return home and share their knowledge. Therefore by focusing on Caribbean integration and using tools such as CARIFESTA, there can be significant development with reference to how we utilise our culture to promote the region and thereby forge relationships with other regions but also by fuelling the integrated Caribbean and advertising it in a way that is beneficial to the citizens

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The term "global village" was coined by Marshall McLuhan and it was based off the concept of different parts of the world coming together to form one community that is linked by a specific factor. In some instances this can be monetary or politically. Some believe that the world should be governed by one currency or one entity hence the new world point of view of becoming citizens of the global village. This can be due to the fact that some countries hold more power than others, this may be worrying when thinking about one's political standpoint, for example the US holds a lot of power with their military and foreign friendships such as Russia. However, these world leaders are only concerned with the first world countries benefitting and decide to utilise third world countries only for their benefit. Therefore, for the Caribbean as a lower ranked region in some instances, becoming part of these bigger countries may not give the desired results we want. We would become one of their conquests and be at their mercy with trade and political standings.

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Does it make sense trying to integrate the Caribbean?

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Does it make sense trying to integrate the Caribbean?

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Throughout writing this piece, I have thought whether or not it makes sense for the Caribbean to continue to fight for integration and I see that without integration many of the goals set by different islands might not be able to be achieved. The Caribbean can fuel their economy, culture/identity, growth and power by utilising their strength as a whole region. The Caribbean as a region is stronger as a unit rather than each island individually fighting their challenges. Therefore, by coming together it can advertise the Caribbean better. Tourism can be one aspect that is aided by integration since The Caribbean is such a popular vacation attraction for foreigners, by more popular islands being part of the integration it can assist with making the other islands more attractive to travellers, thereby bringing in more revenue and boosting the economy. By pushing for integration amongst the Caribbean, the development of the Caribbean can be propelled. This would aid in the region taking steps to becoming first world countries. The fact that we are still considered third world is unbelievable and shows how much more needs to be done in order to improve many aspects of the region such as standard of living and education and governance. One main aspect is governance, we are only as good as our leaders . By uniting as a region we can tackle the corruption that runs through our political system.

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The Caribbean, over the last decade, has been facing many challenges. These start from the effects of climate change to poverty and also good governance and education. By the Caribbean fighting to be integrated, these challenges can be tackled and its impact can be minimised. Each Caribbean island has its own challenges but many of them plague the entire region, for example climate change, this has resulted in sea levels rising and threats of natural disasters. By the region banding together, a way to adapt to this change can be reached sooner before a disaster hits. Some islands in the region may have better resources to deal with these issues and can assist others in the region. Similarly there is an oil price crisis which the price of oil has dropped, that has caused some islands to redirect their resources, but some islands do not depend heavily on oil as a source of income into the country and can inform others that are affected how to redirect their remaining resources in order to gain money. Without the assistance from members of organisations that promote Caribbean integration, the growth of these islands would be stunted and therefore so would the Caribbean region in its entirety.

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Myths of Sovereignty https://mckinneylaw.iu.edu/instructors/Bravo/Caricom.pdf Karen E Bravo

Globalization in the caribbean https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi41pWI1tLhAhWJslkKHTFQBx4QFjABegQIChAH&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bartleby.com%2Fessay%2FGlobalization-in-the-Caribbean-P35AYJ4K6ZZA&usg=AOvVaw21x-y5JYZKHvhzQvKjNM-O Bartleby