The February 2004 insurrection negated what few gains had been achieved during the previous international intervention of the 1990s, effectively forcing the international community to basically “start all over again” in Haiti. Perhaps because of this, there has been a distinctive shift in focus with the second intervention, a recognition that things need to be done differently if governance, security and rule of law are to be strengthened in Haiti in the long term. Whereas the intervention of the 1990s was principally concerned with restoring order and democratic rule, the post-2004 intervention has made addressing the systemic problems that are at the root of Haiti’s fragility a much more explicit priority. Similarly, the main external actors in Haiti have traditionally been the “Big Three” from the North – the United States, France and Canada – as was the case in the first intervention of the 1990s. In the current mission, it is the “ABC” countries from the South – Argentina, Brazil and Chile – that have taken the lead within the UN mission, both diplomatically and militarily.

In late September 2008, CIGI hosted an international workshop examining the internationally supported stabilization and reconstruction process in Haiti. The workshop engaged practitioners, decision makers, policy experts and academics in discussions about Haiti’s troubled transition. It also assessed the effectiveness of the ongoing multilateral, regional and bilateral approaches to peace building and provided recommendations on how to confront current challenges. An edited volume is expected to follow.

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