Welcome to this, our second issue of the Caribbean Journal of International Relations & Diplomacy for 2014. These are exciting times at the Institute of International Relations (IIR). In May, we launched the Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean, a long awaited and much needed diplomatic training centre housed within the IIR. Although the Academy will operate with a separate identity to the institute itself, the strengthening of the umbilical link between the two will be a key component in fulfilling our dual mandate for research and policy praxis.