Since the 1960s prior to political independence from Europe, most Caribbean economies have relied upon primary products, such as bananas, and a sprinkling of services, such as tourism, to provide the hard currency needed to service foreign debts and secure imported necessities. To supplement the area's income, much of the developed world, such as the U.S. with its CBI and Europe through the LOME agreement, offered these dependent nations preferential access to their markets and lucrative aid packages. However, this scenario is clearly at an end as the Caribbean micro-economies ostensibly are too prosperous to qualify for foreign assistance, which has plummeted in recent years due to domestic pressures in both the U.S. and Europe. After a blistering U.S. campaign, the WTO recently ruled that Europe's preferential banana regime violates free trade provisions by providing unjustifiable quotas to such islands as Dominica, St. Lucia and St. Vincent.

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In the "War on Drugs," the U.S. has relentlessly has pressed other countries to combat production and trafficking of illegal substances within and across their borders. Mexico, in particular, has faced strong pressure from Washington to "do its part" in combating the menace, with the annual certification process serving as a major cudgel in the White House's hand. But does Mexico have a transcending national interest in fighting the drug war? First, a sharp distinction must be made between the drug war and the drug trade. All too often, its advocates justify the drug war on the basis of phenomena that some argue are prompted by it. For example, it is the war, not the trade that is ultimately responsible for most of the corruption in transit countries. A distinction must also be made between the interests of individual Mexicans and the country's often self-seeking political apparatus.

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