The Mechanics of Independence Patterns of Political and Economic Transformation in Trinidad and Tobago

If any doubt still remains, the story of Trinidad and Tobago will dispel the last illusion that money and technical assistance alone can launch a new nation into the world community. The Mechanics of Independence probes the interplay of political and social factors on national development both with commitment and detachment: The author, who has been Minister of External Affairs for this newly independent nation, is also a political scientist whose perceptions have been sharpened by the demands of his office. Thus, the story of one small, one-time British colony whose history as a nation roughly parallels the UN "Decade of Development" (independence came in 1962) is presented as a case study of the probable course of events in developing countries around the world now and in the years to come.

As background for reforms and a new constitution, the author traces the political development of the colony under Spanish and British imperial rule, fixing the origin and evolution of the idea that led to the rise of nationalism. Valuable and practical information, supported by charts and statistics, emerges from his account of measures devised to cope with a legacy of economic problems—the tax structure, monetary policy, and international trade arrangements among them. But inevitably he moves on to the unanswered questions for new nations, which now occupy world attention, from that of their survival in a climate of conflicting international pressures to the kind of economic aid compatible with their objectives. The dilemma is internal as well as external, the author observes, questioning the possibility of "freedom" when economic opportunity requires the destruction of traditions separating the rich from the poor, questioning even the possibility of achieving that high degree of social justice viewed so optimistically just a decade ago.

A. N. R. Robinson is one of the most experienced statesmen in Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean region and the Commonwealth. He has been in public service for over forty-five years and is the only person who has held all three of the highest public offices in Trinidad as well as Tobago. He was the Chairman of the Tobago House of Assembly, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and is now President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. He is active in the global community and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.