Caribbean Archive

When Hurricane Dorian, a Category 5 storm, struck the Bahamas in September, it killed dozens of people, displaced tens of thousands more and, according to a recent report, inflicted $3.4 billion worth of damage—roughly a quarter of the country’s GDP. It was the latest sign of the outsized impact that climate change is having on the Caribbean. Many of the region’s small island nations have limited habitable land, much of it barely above sea-level, which is one reason why storms like Dorian, which are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change, can have such a devastating impact. The […]

The small Caribbean island nation of Dominica has been rocked by protests in recent weeks ahead of parliamentary elections that are scheduled for Friday. Demonstrators and opposition groups claim the current electoral system unfairly advantages Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit’s government, which is refusing to implement needed reforms to facilitate a free and fair vote. In an email interview with WPR, Robert Looney, a distinguished professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, explains how the government’s stance on electoral reforms is threatening the legitimacy of this week’s elections. WPR: What prompted the recent protests over electoral reforms? What are […]