In the last twenty years, the Commonwealth Caribbean has moved toward a new technocratic model of development which has sought to reposition the region within the global economy. This paper examines three key policy agendas that have emerged to drive, guide and inform this process: competitiveness, diplomacy and governance. In each case the paper first provides an overview of the main issues, setting the particular circumstances of the Commonwealth Caribbean within wider global developments. It then examines the current "state of play" in each area, highlighting progress made and problems encountered. The last part discusses policy issues in each area, identifying both key concerns in current policy and urgent policy questions that still remain to be resolved. The paper concludes that real progress can be made only if the Commonwealth Caribbean adopts the "functional equivalent" at the regional level of the kind of "development state" that was so successful in East Asia. This will involve restructuring CARICOM to become more innovative, proactive and directive than has been the case to date.