Dear Colleagues,
Please find below information about a conference that may be of interest to you.
Faithfully,
Karen.
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You are invited to the conference 'The USA in the Caribbean: Thirty Years After American Fury'.
Date: Thursday 24 October 2013
Time: 9:30 - 18:00
Venue: The Senate Room, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU.
Venue Map: http://www.psa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/page-files/SenateHouseMap.pdf
Confirmed speakers include:
Keynote speaker: Sir Shridath "Sonny" Ramphal, GCMG, AC, ONZ, OE, OM, OCC, QC, FRSA
Secretary-General of the British Commonwealth (1975-1990); Foreign Minister of Guyana (1972-1975).
Peter Gay - Diplomatic Service 1963 to 1998 (Kaduna and Lagos, Nigeria 1963-67, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1967-71, Toronto, Canada - 1974-75, Port of Spain, Trinidad 1976-1980 and High Commission representative in Grenada 1979-1980, Mogadishu, Somalia, 1983-87, Oporto, Portugal 1987-91.
Professor Gus John - Author of: Time to Tell: The Grenada Massacre and After: Grenada Diary 14-25 December 1983 (2010).
Dr Michael Kandiah - Director of the Grenada Witness Seminar Programme, Kings College London.
John Kelly, CMG, LVO, MBE - Former UK Permanent Representative, FCO, Grenada, 1982-86.
Professor Philip Murphy - Director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, Joint Editor of Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History. Author of: Monarchy and End of Empire (2013); The Queen and the Commonwealth (2012).
Professor Howard Tumber - Director of Research for City University's Graduate School of Journalism, Co-director of the Centre for Law, Justice & Journalism. Author of: Journalists at War (1988); and Journalists under Fire (2006).
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The event is supported by the Political Studies Association, The Institute for Commonwealth Studies, and The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs.
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ONE PERSPECTIVE:
October 2013 is the 30th anniversary of the United States (US) invasion of Grenada.
In 1983, one of the smallest independent countries in the Western hemisphere, the Caribbean island of Grenada, was invaded by the largest country in the Western hemisphere, the United States of America (US). The invasion, named Operation Urgent Fury, began on 25 October 1983, less than 48 hours after the bombing of the US barracks in Lebanon, where 241 US marines died in the largest non-nuclear attack on record. Nearly eight thousand US soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines participated in Operation Urgent Fury along with 353 Caribbean allies in the Caribbean Peace Forces. The invasion was also the first major US military operation since the Vietnam War.
The invasion was criticised by several countries and the United Nations (UN) called for a cessation of the ‘armed intervention’ with 108 members in favour of the resolution (Resolution 38/7) with 9 against and 27 abstentions. Britain had abstained. The UN Security Council also brought a resolution stating that it ‘deeply deplores the armed intervention in Grenada, which statutes a flagrant violation of international law.’ However, this resolution was vetoed by only the US, 11 to 1.
Some US Democratic Members of Congress sought to impeach President Reagan. While, the Queen, the Head of State of Grenada, was said to be furious with both of the US and British premiers and had demanded answers from Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. However, Thatcher was apparently ‘deeply disturbed’ by the news of an invasion. President Reagan claimed that Thatcher ‘...was very adamant and continued to insist that we cancel our [planned] landings on Grenada. I couldn't tell her that it had already begun.’
The US withdrew from Grenada in December 1983, just before the 1984 US Presidential elections. The incumbent, Republican President Reagan, was re-elected in a historic popular and electoral vote landslide. Reagan won 525 of the 538 electoral votes and 49 of the 50 states. The Democratic defeat was the worst in US history and Reagan's electoral votes total remains a US record.
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This conference seeks to address Why it happened? What really happened? and What happened next?
A feature of this conference will be the publication of the Grenada Witness Seminar transcripts (http://www.psa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/page-files/GrenadaWitnessProgramme.pdf) that has interviews with some of the decision-makers involved during the invasion.
The conference flyer is at: http://www.psa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/page-files/GrenadaConferenceFlyer_0.pdf
The current programme is at: http://www.psa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/page-files/GrenadaConferenceProgramme_0.pdf
Registration is £5. You can register at: http://store.london.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=5&catid=28&prodid=540
The recently released (August 2013) British Cabinet minutes from 1983 (with references to Grenada extracted and highlighted are at: http://www.psa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/page-files/1983CabinetGrenadaHighlighted_21.7MB.pdf (22MB)
Further conference details and downloads are at: http://www.psa.ac.uk/psa-communities/specialist-groups/caribbean-politics/events
Please book early to avoid disappointment. Places are limited.
Please feel free to circulate this invitation to any interested parties.
Contact Karen Hunte (07598 254220 or [log in to unmask]) for any more information.
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