An Asymmetry Of Anti-drug Actions Between The USA And The Bahamas:A Case Study Of Their Motives,Benefits And Risks

The aim of this study is to provide a detailed analysis of the asymmetry between the United States of America(USA)and The Bahamas on the war against drugs.In addition to the asymmetric relationship between the two countries,the motives,benefits,and risks will also be examined.The Commonwealth of The Bahamas is positioned a mere 50 miles off the eastern seaboard of the US.The archipelagic nation-state territory is uniquely arranged across more than 100,000 sq miles of ocean.The island chain runs for more than 600 miles from the northern island of Abaco to the most southern island of Great Inagua.In this vast expanse of ocean are more than 2000 cays which comprise coral and rock formations and 700 islands of which a little over two dozen are inhabited.The Bahamas is bordered to the northwest by the US,to the southeast by the Turks and Caicos Islands which happens to be a British overseas territory and to the southwest by Cuba.Indeed,due to the arrangement of the geographic features of the Bahamas and its proximity to the US,the country is a prime location to conduct extensive drug trafficking operations to supply the demand in the American market.The first chapter lays the groundwork for the thesis.This chapter includes the significance of the research,the hypothesis,the research question,methodology and the intended academic breakthrough of the study.This paper argues that drug cooperation between the Bahamas and the US came as a result of pressure associated with the asymmetric relationship and the dependence of the Bahamas on its larger neighbor.The second chapter presents the literature associated with the topic and the theoretical framework.The literature on drug cooperation in a Bahamian context was analyzed.Following the various arguments put forth by scholars both past and present the theoretical framework was analyzed.The theoretical framework as its name states,provides the significance of the theory underpinning the research.In this instance,the asymmetry theory was used in this study.Asymmetry theory looks at the difference in power between the smaller and larger state in a bilateral or other relationship.Moreover,the bilateral relationship of the Bahamas and the US was exposed to highlight the glaring asymmetrical differences between the two countries.Brantly Womack,who popularized the theory of asymmetry was used in this section evidently.Following the conclusion of the second chapter,chapter three was brought into focus.Chapter three,its first section highlights the historical ties between the Bahamas and the US.An extensive history of US-Bahamian ties which predate the Bahamas’ independence was reviewed.This move was critical because it provides context as to how cooperation between the two nation-states transpired.This section also provides relevant information on BahamianAmerican relations to the present day.It was discovered that The Bahamas has a history of being an ideal location to conduct drug and other nefarious activity with the intent on getting the contraband into the American market.In the next section of chapter 3,the United States of America’s rationale for engaging in the war on drugs was revealed.Despite the historical nature of the illicit drug trade,it was not until the 1970 s and more specifically 1980 s that the situation would receive significant government attention.It is argued that the American motivation for entering in a substantive effort to arrest the drug trade in a Bahamian perspective was due to money laundering and the vast amounts of drugs that were entering the US via the Bahamas.Drug traffickers would use Bahamian banks to store money made from the drug trade.In addition to this,another motivation was to stop the large volume of drugs from entering the US of which more than 70 to 80 percent transited through the Bahamas during the late 1970 s into the early 1980 s.The section then moves on to cover how the Bahamas would come to cooperate with the United States of America.Cooperation would come as result of landmark laws,treaties,reliance and asymmetric pressure that came as a result of the size of the Bahamas in relation to the USA.In the last section of chapter 3 the glaring asymmetric differences between the Bahamas and The United States of America is examined.The US has more than 321,418,000 people who reside their,while the Bahamas has 353,000 according to its latest census.The comparison between the United States and the Bahamas in population size is more striking as the American population comes in at 909 times larger than that of the Bahamas’ population.The small size of the Bahamas’ populace means that based on certain dynamics it will incur more risk than the larger pair in the duo.The stark differences between the two neighbours is extensively examined in this section and a full account of the asymmetry is presented.The fourth chapter looks at the dilemma that the Bahamas finds itself in with regard to the relationship with the United States of America and the drug trade.The economic reliance of the Bahamian economy on the American economy is looked at.This section helps to cement the main argument by providing statistics and high ranking government officials statements and their subsequent viewpoints on economic dependency.In particular,the recent recession in 2008 that started in the US caused economic contractions and a protracted recession in the Bahamas.The Bahamas still finds itself in a tough economic spot as a result.The security concerns as a result of the drug trade were analysed focusing on the Bahamas.Further,the risks connected with the relationship from the Bahamian vantage point was analysed.The security concerns range from the importation of guns,to crime,to the addition of more courts designed for drugs related offenses and offenders.The domestic response to the drug trade was discussed from a Bahamian perspective in chapter four.Despite the findings of a commission that accused his government’s officials of being complicit in the drug trade,Prime Minister Lynden Pindling would emerge victorious for the last time as prime minister.An analysis of the future of USBahamian relations was also provided.The US has elected,and sworn in a new president Donald Trump.The Bahamas finds itself in the midst of an election campaign.The last chapter in this study focuses on the findings.The hypothesis was proven to be true.It was found that The Bahamas cooperated with the US on the war against drugs for several reasons.One of the reasons that cooperation was achieved was out of the concern that economic sanctions would be placed on The Bahamas if it failed to cooperate.The US passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986,to strengthen its reach outside its borders and failure to comply or cooperate in stemming the flow of drugs would result in decertification.Decertification would come with a number of economic disincentives for the Bahamas.The economic implications were inclusive of “….sanctions,including duties,cancellation of visas,loss of tariff benefits,50 percent withholding of bilateral aid,and suspension of air services against offending countries.”These sanctions have the ability,on a considerable level to cause an economic downturn in the Bahamian economy.The potential imposition of sanctions would have had a crippling effect on the economy.This in turn,would,have adverse consequences because the Bahamian economy is predicated and built of off tourism which makes up more than 50 percent of its GDP.Consequently,less tourists coming to the country,results in a reduction in revenue for the government.In essence,this pressure could be categorized as asymmetric pressure.Based on the asymmetric nature of the relationship between the US and the Bahamas being much smaller in land mass,economic output and its dependence on the American visitor,the Bahamas would be concerned with America’s behavior and intentions.