CARICOM at the Crossroads of Pressure

As 2025 draws to a close, the Caribbean Community stands at a moment that calls for less rhetoric and more realism. CARICOM is experiencing a period in which external pressure is intensifying, new norms are hardening among powerful states, and the need for small states to navigate emerging demands is growing.

The central challenge before CARICOM is not disagreement between governments. Diversity of view is inevitable among governments, which are transient by nature and whose policies are shaped by domestic political cycles. The deeper question is whether all governments—acting as a community of interests—can strengthen collective planning and coordination in a world where economic, political and security shocks increasingly spill across borders.

Economic stress in one CARICOM country never remains confined. The region’s economies are interlinked through trade, investment, labour movement, tourism and financial flows. Intra-CARICOM exports—particularly from the more industrialised CARICOM economies—have direct implications for revenues, employment and growth across the Community. A downturn in any one economy translates into lost income and reduced demand across regional supply chains.

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