It is no secret that governments around the world regularly practice their response to security threats. The objective is to prepare for eventualities that those concerned hope will never occur, and to demonstrate publicly a readiness and capacity to respond effectively with others.
It should therefore come as no surprise that this year’s annual pan-Caribbean security exercise, will focus on new, non-traditional challenges.
The exercise, Tradewinds 2017, which involves the Caribbean Regional Security System (RSS) and international partners, is due to take place in Trinidad on June 16-17. In the past, such exercises have involved conventional responses to threats such as insurgency and invasion, and more recently they have been aimed at organised crime and narcotics trafficking.
However, this year’s Tradewinds exercise will relate to new dangers: those posed by Caribbean nationals returning from areas previously controlled by Daesh (ISIS); hostage taking; threats to infrastructure; and other linked events previously unknown in the region, including having to respond to a refugee crisis.