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To aim for the future…
…learn your past. Another Haiti article, continuing a review of How Haiti Can Make the World Dream Again, by Jean Ricot Doremus [Comment Haiti peut faire rêver le monde à nouveau, published by Dream Again Press, Silver Spring, Maryland, 2025.]
Haiti is very much in the news these days. Everybody hears about the gangs controlling part of the country, and the ineffective response of the international community and the Haitian National Police and their Kenyan allies. Ineffective because inadequate: the numbers of troops planned have still not arrived, nor has the matériel they need (like helicopters). Why is for another article — right now I want to go back to this extraordinary book.
Dormeus pointed out that the 1803 Haitian victory over the French army — what allowed them to become independent — set a precedent which still resonates. Namely, military force became enshrined for conflict resolution. “This idea has led to a scorched-earth approach to situations that require dialogue and compromise,” he writes. “Political leaders have tried to maintain the social structure and advantages either by negligence or coercion, without attending to the need for inclusion, fair treatment, and freedom to act. The results — economic decline, social problems, and political instability — are eloquent.” (p. 12)
