3/29/2024
Español Français Português

 

Security of small island states

 

Introduction

 

The special security concerns of the small island states were initially identified at the special meeting of the Committee on Hemispheric Security held in October 1996, and subsequently, at the High-Level Meeting on the Special Security Concerns of Small Island States, held in San Salvador, in February 1998. These meetings concluded that security for small island states is multidimensional in scope and application, and encompasses, inter alia:

  1. the military-political aspects traditionally associated with the security of states;

  2. the protection and preservation of the state’s sovereignty and territorial integrity;

  3. freedom from external military attack and coercion;

  4. freedom from external interference by state or non-state actors in its internal political affairs;

  5. protection from environmental conditions and ecological disasters which could imperil its viability;

  6. the link between trade, economic development, and security; and

  7. the ability to maintain and protect democratic institutions, which ensure domestic tranquility.

A second high-level meeting on the Special Security Concerns of the Small Island States is programmed to take place in Barbados, immediately prior to the thirty-second regular session of the General Assembly, scheduled to be in June 2002.

 


Copyright © 2024 All rights reserved. Organization of American States