On June 6-8, the Perry Center joined regional security leaders in Jamaica for the 2023 Caribbean Nations Security Conference (CANSEC). The conference, themed “Strengthening Regional Security through Informed Action,” was co-hosted by General Laura Richardson, Commander of US Southern Command, and Rear Admiral Antonette Wemyss Gorman, Chief of Defence Staff of Jamaica Defence Force. Fourteen of the security leaders that participated are part of the Perry Center community, including RAdm Wemyss Gorman, who was the first woman to attain Flag rank in the Jamaica Defence Force and currently the only woman Chief of Defense in the world.

Perry Center director Dr. Paul Angelo held a number of bilateral meetings with regional partners, and Perry Center Professor Dr. Patrick Paterson represented the Climate Change Working Group in a presentation on Climate Change and Environmental Security to the 21 nations in attendance. Dr. Paterson advised that Latin America and the Caribbean are highly prone to natural disasters – second only to the Asia Pacific region – and cautioned the actions we take in the next decade will determine the fate of future generations. Referencing the 2022 US National Security Strategy, he said, “Of all of the shared problems we face, climate change is the greatest and potentially existential for all nations.”