Inter-American Dialogue | Haiti Program

Haiti Program

OVERVIEW

A precarious equilibrium persists in Haiti due to measured progress on three inter-related sets of short-term issues: security, political stability, and economic development. But backsliding has occurred due to rising food prices, and additional setbacks in any area could rapidly undo all progress achieved since the election of President Réne Préval in May 2006. The Inter-American Dialogue works to create a shared understanding of these tensions among many different political groups - and find ways to defuse them. In 2007, Dialogue staff traveled to Haiti on a fact-finding mission to assess the current security situation, meet with high-level officials in Haiti, and to examine the role of the private sector in providing educational service in Haiti.

DIALOGUE QUOTED

Haiti's President René Préval "is not a hands-on, hard-charging manager. He does have leadership capabilities but in a country like Haiti where you really need to knock heads together to get anything done it's a big question whether Preval is up to the task," Dan Erikson in Reuters on May 11, 2008.

PROGRAM EVENTS

July 30, 2008: Is Haiti Drifting Towards Crisis?
Cosponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Panelists: Jason Steinbaum, Staff Director for the Western Hemisphere Sub-committee of the House Foreign Relations Committee; H. E. Raymond Joseph, Ambassador of Haiti; Dan Erikson, Inter-American Dialogue; and moderated by Johanna Mendelson Forman, Senior Associate at CSIS.
Video: CSPAN

December 6, 2007: Roundtable Discussion on Haiti
Panelists: Peter Bell, president emeritus of CARE USA; Carlo Dade , executive director of the Canadian Foundation for the Americas (FOCAL); Ambassador Duly Brutus, Haiti's representative to the Organization of American States; and Dr. Robert Maguire, director of international affairs at Trinity University.

May 11, 2007: Haiti Under Rene Preval: A One Year Assessment
Panelists: Professor Robert Fatton, Jr., University of Virginia; Mark Schneider, International Crisis Group; Juan Gabriel Valdes, former head of MINUSTAH; and James Dobbins, RAND Corporation.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

"New bipartisanship over Haiti is promising," Des Moines Register, January 29, 2010.

"International community, Haitians must work together,"by Peter Bell, Des Moines Register, January 29, 2010.

September 26,2008: Education in Haiti - The Way Forward
By Laurence Wolff
Source: Inter-American Dialogue/PREAL Report

April 22, 2008: Latin America, Caribbean the Focus of China-Taiwan Tussle
By Dan Erikson

November 1, 2007: Haiti: Real Progress, Real Fragility (PDF)
By Peter D. Bell, The Right Honorable Joe Clark, Carlo Dade, Dan Erikson, Peter Hakim

August 7, 2007: China, Taiwan, and the Battle for Latin America* (PDF)
By Daniel P. Erikson and Janice Chen
“Published in The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs”

October 1, 2005: The Caribbean: Democracy Adrift? (PDF)
By Daniel P. Erikson and Adam Minson
Source: Journal of Democracy

August 1, 2005: Haiti: Preparing for Elections (PDF)
By Daniel P. Erikson, Adam Minson

February 1, 2005: Haiti after Aristide: Still on the Brink (PDF)
By Daniel P. Erikson
Source: Current History

January 1, 2004: The Haiti Dilemma (PDF)
By Daniel P. Erikson
Source: Brown Journal of World Affairs

PROGRAM STAFF

Dan Erikson, Senior Associate
Paul Wander, Program Assistant
Cindy A. Rivas, Intern

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