The Greater Caribbean comprises approximately 40 territories—both independent and non-independent—forming a rich cultural, economic, and political mosaic. Beyond their differences, the region exhibits common traits stemming from geographic proximity, colonial history, and the challenges it faces in achieving economic development with social justice amidst the intensifying negative effects of climate change.

The Working Group "Crisis, Responses and Alternatives in the Greater Caribbean" (WG CRAGC) proposes to continue the research and action approach adopted, which examines the challenges and opportunities for Caribbean territories to advance along the path of sustainable development with inclusion and social justice. It begins by recognizing the specific obstacles to development faced by most Caribbean territories classified as Small Island Developing States (SIDS), as well as by all the countries that share coastlines and the valuable resource of the Caribbean Sea.

There is abundant literature on the particular vulnerabilities and challenges faced by small states, and in particular, small island states (Baldacchino 2018, Thorhallsson 2018, Sutton 2011). In the case of Caribbean SIDS, difficulties are recognized in managing the economy, domestic politics, international relations, and environmental protection in an environment marked by growing poverty, inequality, unemployment, migration, violence, and involvement in transnational criminal networks (Girvan 2010, Bernard 2007). Among these obstacles, the negative impacts associated with climate change stand out (Scobie 2013, Bishop and Payne 2012, Pulwarty et al. 2010), a topic that has occupied a significant portion of the work of the CRAC Working Group. In addition to holding two seminars at the University of Havana and in collaboration with the Norman Girvan Chair of Caribbean Studies, the compilation "Climate Change and its Impacts in the Caribbean" was published in September 2020 by CLACSO.

Beyond this discourse of “vulnerability,” it is valid to recognize that Caribbean countries possess the resources and capabilities to advance their economies, implement effective public policies, and address the needs of the most vulnerable sectors within a more just and inclusive environment (Baldacchino 2009, Gomes 2014). The Caribbean has extensive experience in building resilience, drawing on a history of resistance that bears witness to how the region has overcome immense adversity throughout the centuries, from devastating hurricanes to the horrors of slavery imposed on thousands of people brought from the far reaches of the globe.

The CRAC Working Group (GT CRAC) is not content with simply studying the crises, both cyclical and systemic, that afflict the Caribbean. Through research and exchange with other actors, the GT CRAC seeks to influence the formulation of public policies as one of the ways to respond to problems and overcome obstacles to Caribbean development. In this endeavor, it is essential to consider alternative perspectives emerging from the region and proposed by intellectuals, academics, and activists that address the region's particularities associated with its geographical characteristics, histories of colonization and slavery, forced migrations and incomplete political independence, significant exposure to the effects of climate change, high sensitivity to external economic shocks, and marked dependence on foreign trade and investment flows in an environment characterized by the vibrant artistic creativity that has resulted from the confluence of traditions, peoples, religions, and cultures (Chaitoo 2013, Girvan 2012, Hendrickson 2012, Nurse 2009). Ignoring the thought and action born and nurtured in the Caribbean makes it impossible to find effective answers to its development and well-being needs, as experience demonstrates that following formulas inspired by solutions practiced in developed nations or those with larger land areas and populations does not work in our region. As part of the effort to rescue and learn from the rich Caribbean intellectual heritage, in 2020 the CRAC Working Group, together with the Juan Bosch Foundation of the Dominican Republic, launched the "Thinking about the Caribbean from the Perspective of Juan Bosch and Eric Williams" Award, which resulted in the publication of the book *Thinking about the Caribbean from the Perspective of Juan Bosch and Eric Williams: 50 Years After Christopher Columbus to Fidel Castro*, published by CLACSO.

Part of this search also involves investigating the relations between the Caribbean and Latin America, as well as regional integration and cooperation initiatives (Griffith 2007, Lewis 2008). The topic of regional integration and cooperation has served as a central theme in the work of the CRAC Working Group in previous periods, culminating in the publication of "ALBA-TCP: Origin and Result of the New Latin American and Caribbean Regionalism" (2015).

The CRAGC Working Group will place special emphasis on developing proposals for actions and policies that promote a development agenda outside of the economic policy prescriptions promoted by neoliberal orthodoxy, and where the particular vulnerabilities that characterize the Caribbean reality associated with climate change, the environment, dependent economies, and the geographical condition of being a bridge between the South and North of the Americas are given special attention.

Specific topics that will require the attention of the GT members include analyses of the use of natural resources, energy and food sovereignty, the effects of climate change, migration flows and the Caribbean diaspora, regional economy and integration, and the role of culture in development.

The analyses will focus on specific sectors such as Afro-descendant populations, migrants, women, and youth. They will also promote critical reflection on Caribbean history, often told from the perspective of conquerors and colonizers.

For the next three years, the CRAGC Working Group will maintain its commitment to contributing to the reflection on the multiple crises in the Caribbean from an interdisciplinary perspective. This will ensure the continuity of the theoretical work generated and compiled in the books "The Greater Caribbean in the 21st Century: Crisis and Response" (2013), "The Caribbean and its International Relations" (2018), and "Caribbean: Contemporary Perspectives and Challenges" (2022). The latter was published at the initiative of the Postgraduate Program in Latin American Integration at the University of São Paulo (PROLAM-USP) and includes contributions from several members of the CRAGC Working Group.

Why is it important to critically situate the study of economic, political, environmental, and social realities within the context of Latin American and Caribbean public policy in relation to global dynamics? Because there are significant similarities between the topic addressed by the CRAGC Working Group and the overall situation in Latin America and the world. These include the dismantling of institutions, public policies, and social services following the shift to the political right and economic neoliberalism; attacks on the most recent regional integration and cooperation initiatives; attempts to destabilize political institutions and the constitutional order; growing inequality; increased violence; migration; and the negative effects associated with climate change, which disproportionately affect the poorest and coastal populations. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated crises, impoverishment, and inequality, and, in a scenario of the return of leftist governments in Latin America, it is important to analyze the changes that could occur in a climate of high global volatility and their impacts on the Caribbean region.

The CRAGC Working Group understands that in the current context of complex political, economic, social and international relations situations, it is essential to promote research on the development alternatives that the Gran Caribbean region demands without losing sight of its specific characteristics, vulnerabilities and potential, as well as the commitments adopted at the regional and global level, especially regarding the various integration and cooperation initiatives.

The starting point is to recognize this Caribbean specificity from the perspective of considering most of its territories as Small Island Developing States (SIDS), which "in addition to being characterized by reduced physical areas and small population, share features such as volatile economic growth, increased poverty and inequality and marked vulnerability to the occurrence of extreme events and the effects of climate change." (Laguardia Martínez 2017).

In 2014, at the Third International Conference on SIDS held in Samoa, the international community recognized that SIDS constitute a special case for sustainable development due to their unique and particular vulnerabilities. Although many have made progress in achieving social and economic development goals, their inherent vulnerabilities—such as limited physical space, insularity, limited resource availability, and greater exposure to natural phenomena—hinder economic and social progress and even expose them to setbacks in their development indicators (Laguardia Martínez 2017). It is worth noting that the CRAGC Working Group recognizes climate change as one of the Caribbean's greatest challenges, one that even threatens the survival of the region's populations.

Taking as a theoretical reference the discussion surrounding the particular case of the Caribbean region facing development challenges from its status as a SIDS is the starting point for the analysis of the complexity of this group of underdeveloped countries in the global context, which, due to their proximity, become especially relevant in the dynamics of Latin America, especially if we recognize the existence of a "Latin" Caribbean with a double regional identity, as is the case with Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Puerto Rico. This theoretical reference serves as a basis for the analysis of the Caribbean's international relations, especially with Latin America and the United States (Suárez Salazar 2015), the colonial situation and the persistence of politically non-independent territories (Byron 2015), the political economy of the Caribbean (tax havens, intermediation and correspondent banking, restricted access to financial flows), and its insertion into the global economy (neo-extractivism, value chains), the geopolitics of natural resources, political ecology, security (food, energy, environmental, financial), migration and diasporas, resistances and popular mobilizations.

For the analysis of regional integration and cooperation issues, we maintain the validity of the theoretical framework of New Strategic Regionalism (Aponte García 2014, 2015) or a counter-hegemonic and socialist or third-generation regionalism (Muhr 2012). According to some authors (Briceño Ruiz, 2013: 12), in the new post-liberal-post-hegemonic stage of Latin American regionalism, several axes of regional integration are observed, reflecting the adoption of different economic models. Briceño Ruiz posits the existence of three axes of regional integration with markedly distinct economic models: the axis of open regionalism with an economic model of strategic regionalism; the revisionist axis with an economic model of social regionalism; and the anti-systemic axis with an economic model of productive regionalism. Other authors consider free trade agreements (FTAs) as part of a logic of capitalist accumulation at the international level (Regueiro 2014).

For our part, we recognize the importance of considering Functional Cooperation as a theoretical component that justifies integration and cooperation within CARICOM, the main integration framework for small Caribbean island states. Functional cooperation was extensively discussed by Norman Girvan as a mechanism to coordinate the actions of CARICOM members in order to advance the resolution of common problems beyond the stagnation of trade and economic dynamics within the regional integration framework. Girvan referred to the importance of functional cooperation for integration among Caribbean institutions and societies in a range of areas within a shared geographic space; for example, in the energy and environmental sectors (Girvan, 2003). This approach is also a cornerstone of the ACS's operations, which promotes functional cooperation in trade, transportation, sustainable tourism, and natural disaster management, as stated in its mission declaration to establish the Greater Caribbean region as a Zone of Cooperation.

In intraregional functional cooperation, some of the most important areas for analysis are: strategic planning for participation in international markets; industrial policy to create firm foundations in technological and administrative capabilities among national firms and small businesses; socioeconomic policies to empower the poor and marginalized; science and technology and research and development; and education.

The unique characteristics of Caribbean societies, often vulnerable to economic, political, and environmental crises, demand a greater effort in the implementation of public policies, both domestically and regionally. Such efforts must also be reflected in the work of intellectuals and academics in the region, who must promote research aimed at transforming a region plagued by high rates of inequality, poverty, migration, violence, drug and arms trafficking, energy and food dependency, and economic and environmental vulnerability. The problems affecting Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, women, youth, and other groups also require substantive studies to support policy proposals for their resolution.