In this article the author would attempt to ventilate the issue of globalization and integration within the Caribbean by outlining its pros and cons. When asked the question whether or not the efforts at Caribbean integration are relevant for Caribbean development or should we as Caribbean people aim to become citizens of the global village, one should take both concepts into consideration. Caribbean integration involves the languages and identity, geography, history and culture of the Caribbean. It branches off into sectors which include political, social, cultural and economical integration. Some efforts of Caribbean integration include the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) and CARICOM. These were seen as the first demonstration of a free trade moving to a customs union. CARIFTA was established in 1968 to impart a continued economic connection between the English speaking countries of the Caribbean. CARICOM is made up of fifteen Caribbean nations and colonies whose prime focus is to promote economic integration and cooperation among its members. This ensures that the advantages of integration are shared equally and also to correlate foreign policy. CARICOM was formed in 1973 and its duties consisted of development planning, instituting special projects for less developed countries and coordinating economic policies. One may say that Caribbean integration is indeed necessary for the development of the Caribbean because there was once a time where the Caribbean lost its identity due to white supremacy. White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to all other races. In the 19^th century, after experiencing a form of white supremacy, Marcus Garvey was recorded saying “It was then that I found for the first time that there were different races, each having its own separate and distinct social life.” (Lewis 2015) . White supremacy affected the educational status, societal status and economical status of Caribbean people. Caribbean integration is seen as a way of bringing unity to all nations across the Caribbean that was once divided in the colonial era. Marcus Garvey also inspired Bob Marley to sing about emancipating one’s self from mental slavery, which implied that the division of the Caribbean was beyond physical colonialism and more so within the mind of individuals.

Political integration refers to the combination of components within the political systems. It is a potential uniting of two or more political units and applying conditions such as projecting identity, creating common institutions, establishing unified laws and developing a decision making center which would conclude in the building of a political community. Economical integration is a concord among countries in a geographic region to lessen and eventually remove tax and non-tax barriers to the free flow of goods and services and also land, labor, enterprise and capital among each other. In the recent years the Caribbean has made a significant amount of progress due to the implementation of economic reform on a national and international stage. With the implementation of CARICOM companies in the national stock exchange, market capitalization has increased. Social integration is the process in which minorities are made apart of the social structure of the host society. This process helped bridge the gap of segregation within the Caribbean nations as the Caribbean was now able to make an impact on the world. Small nations now had voice as the entire Caribbean stood with a unite front.  Cultural integration is known as a cultural exchange in which a group undertakes the beliefs, rituals and practices of another group without giving up the characteristics of its own culture. A culture is the social habit or norm found within human societies. It is a main concept in anthropology, circumscribing the range of phenomena that are sent through social learning in humanities. In the early stages of the forming of CARICOM a cultural barrier existed. The CARICOM leaders noticed such a barrier and attempted to fix it by recognizing and endorsing the value of training in cultural research which will increase national and regional expertise in this area. They then came up with a policy framework to preserve cultural heritage. The policy goals were to provide proper management and conservation of the region’s cultural heritage, to research, document and archive the cultural phenomena of the region and also to ensure that the necessary legislation is put in place to protect and recover their patrimony. There was a perception that cultural activity was not economically significant. However the CARICOM governments decided to establish infrastructural and other support to allow for the development of cultural industries and devise strategies for existing resources to be rationalized and brought into greater service. Eventually the cultural barrier that once existed evolved into the one thing that unifies us as Caribbean nations. When cultural integration within the Caribbean became successful nations was now able to show case their uniqueness of cultures to the world which aided in the economic growth of CARICOM nations. Economic growth occurred due to the increase in tourism.

Integration within the hemisphere of the Caribbean has many beneficial factors some which are benefits of free trade, benefits of common policies in dealing with non-member states and trans-national corporations and a form of restoring identity. The free trade allows the reduction of the price of goods and services because taxes, duties quotas and licensing arrangements are removed. This contributed to a large volume of trade, which resulted in an increase in the aggregate demand and an increase in the cost of production. Due to such increases unemployment was then drastically reduced. The common policies in dealing with non-member states and trans-national corporation pertains to the positioning of preferential rates and special quotas  can be made for the Caribbean products emerging into economic blocs such as the European union and the united states of America. With the lessening of competition between member states in luring foreign investments, greater bargains can be negotiated by host countries when attracting such investors. In the colonial era the Christian Spaniards came to the Caribbean under the premise of teaching the Amerindians Spanish and about the Christian faith in exchange for their services and resources. Moreover instead of doing what was intended the Spaniards enslaved the Amerindians. The Amerindians who resisted were called the Caribs (kalinagos) and the ones who did not put up resistance were called Arawaks (Tainos). The Spaniards placed the neo-indians into separate groups to cause segregation. They even used education to dived and conquer the tribe. In the era of chattel slavery, slaves were brought to the Caribbean unwillingly. The children of the slaves who got pregnant for their white masters were taught European history in an attempt to illuminate the African culture. Back in the colonial era having a Caribbean background was nothing to be proud of, but thanks to Caribbean integration the identity and the confidence of the Caribbean have been restored.  

Though there are sufficient benefits of integration within the Caribbean there are also disadvantages. Some disadvantages includes, investment diversion, higher cost to consumers and also trade diversion.  Investment is the possible economic disadvantage of an economic integration program. It is when there is a lack of foreign investment. A member of an economic integration program is seen as an unattractive place to invest by a foreign investor. This is due to the higher burden of tariffs and regulations, which could lead to a net loss in foreign investment. The rise in cost to consumers occurs when there is a decreased in trade and investment to less costly markets outside of the region as a result of an increase in trade and investment to expensive markets within the region. This action causes the consumer to pay more for goods and services. Trade diversion is the unintended effect of reducing trade with nations outside of the agreement. This occurs because the nations outside of the region must pay tax and deal with other trade barriers while nations within the region do not have such obligations. 

Though a numerous amount of efforts have been made to integrate the Caribbean, the question still remains on whether we as a Caribbean should aspire to become part of the global village. Globalization is the process of operating on an international scale. Being a part of a global village is distinguished as being closely connected by modern telecommunications and as being economically, socially and politically independent. A few benefits of globalization are increase in free trade, better education opportunities, increase in quality of goods and services and reduction of cultural barriers. The rise in free trade has opened doors for investors from developed countries to invest into developing countries. Large companies from developing countries would now have the freedom to operate in the developing countries. Due to the increase in globalization it has become easier for people to travel across the world to acquire better education. This resulted in an integration of cultures. People from underdeveloped or developing countries would usually go to a developed country for better education. Increase in quality of goods and services occur because people now have access to the best quality of goods and services. Barriers between various cultures are being broken as people travel from one country to another. This resulted in the resistance and openness towards other cultures.

 As to every pro there is a con of globalization. Some disadvantages of globalization are the limitation of the fiscal capacity of the state, stagnation and the slow growth of employment and too much competition among firms. Due to the reduction of taxes the fiscal capacity of the state would become limited. This would result in less government spending on healthcare, education, poverty programs etc. The increase of self employment would increase the size of the informal economy causing there to be stagnation and slow growth of employment in the modern sector. Local firms would now be unable to compete with technology and the cheap imports would affect producers of importables.  Small and medium firms would not be able to compete with larger enterprises that are well known and able to afford the latest technology advancements.

Based on the aforementioned pros and cons of both globalization and Caribbean integration it is safe to say that both concepts are necessary for the successful development of the Caribbean. The Caribbean integration aspect of development would help give the Caribbean a firm foundation, a sense of identity and independence and also make smaller Caribbean nations feel heard. Whereas the globalization aspect of development would provide advancement of trade, foreign investments, development of information technology and aid in the acceptance of Caribbean culture. It is of my opinion that if both concepts are implemented properly it would be a winning situation for the Caribbean and its long-term development in the future to come. As Hillel the elder said “If not us, who? If not now, when?”