the Caribbean Studies Association (CSA) annual meeting in Guadeloupe. The CSA is our regional academic organization. Issues related to decolonization were discussed in a number of the conference panels at great length. CAR Such as? CGC Well, among other things, we looked at the relevant options of political equality, particularly independence, free association and integration -- since we were meeting in a former territory which had moved to political integration. We looked at how this particular governance model actually operated on the ground. By contrast, we also examined the democratic deficiencies existing in the current dependencies and semi -autonomous countries in the Caribbean and Pacific. ***** CAR The issue of implementation of the decolonization mandate seems to be critical to its success. CGC Yes, over time, that is how it has emerged. Of course, in the 1990s, those of us from the territories who were involved in this process were all very enamored with being engaged in the U.N. proceedings, especially since this kind of international participation was rather uncommon among the dependent territories. In many cases, such participation was even discouraged by some administering powers. So, certain territories were absent from the process and many still are either hesitant to participate. Quite unique from an historical perspective was that successive US Virgin Islands governments took a principled position -- that we needed to participate in the U.N. discussions where we were the topic of debate. But in the long run, this has not sustained. CAR And this was the