The People's Republic of China (PRC) intensified its relations with Caribbean states in recent years. The Caribbean community is now embracing a growing and purposeful Chinese presence utilizing all the elements of "soft power" and instruments of national power-diplomacy, military assistance, and economic development to strengthen its strategic alliances within the region. The expansion of China may undermine United States (US) geopolitical dominance in the Basin which has the potential to create gaps in the areas of traditional security cooperation such as border security, law enforcement, military affairs and security policy and strategies. In the context of US geopolitical interests and Caribbean security, this study seeks to explore China's motives and ascertain whether any gradual erosion of US geopolitical influence in the region may affect longstanding assistance and cooperation in treating with traditional and current non-traditional threats to Caribbean security; specifically transnational criminal organizations and terrorist networks. Does China pose a realistic threat to the US in the region? Will current trends pose a conceptual or realistic challenge to the existing balance of security in the Caribbean Basin?

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