Self-Determination and Title to Territory

Explores Jamaica’s foreign policy approach to a number of issues of self-determination and title to territory. Jamaica has been an enthusiastic supporter of the right to self-determination as reflected in its support of UN General Assembly Resolution 1514, now considered part of customary international law. This chapter considers some of the implications of this right from Jamaica’s perspective. The colonial case of Belize is discussed and shows Jamaica’s unwavering stance. The country’s foreign policy on the post-colonial context, however, is less straightforward. This nuanced approach is explored in the cases of Biafra, Catalonia and Scotland and closer home in St. Kitts and Nevis and Anguilla. Chapter 7 also contemplates the political reality for the Accompong and other Maroons in Jamaica. The case of claims made by the United Kingdom and Argentina over the Falkland Islands/Las Malvinas, Jamaica has been inclined to support the former, but has also considered the counterarguments of the latter. With respect to small states within the United Nations, this chapter ends with a similar strategically dual foreign policy approach of rejecting the issue of small size as a barrier to UN membership while supporting the use of the label of small size as grounds for receiving special treatment.