Yasmine Shamsie (an assistant professor teaching Latin American politics and international relations at Wilfrid Laurier University) and Dr. Andrew S. Thompson (a historian and writer on questions of human rights and international governance from the University of Waterloo) have explored the situation in Haiti and in published their work and recommendations in Haiti: Hope for a Fragile State. We believe that the best way to help put an end to Haiti’s current migration and international labor problems with the Dominican Republic is by helping the country of Haiti help itself. In a series of essays first presented at the “Canada in Haiti” conference, Shamsie and Thompson laid out a set of multi-dimensional solutions for the situations in Haiti, a plan (also known as the 5 D’s) that we will base the remainder of this section on: Diplomacy, Defense, Development, Democracy, and Disarmament.
- Democracy: Politicians- A change in government is necessary but not sufficient for a change in state.
- Development: International Aid- A barrier to this though is that Haiti continues to be known as a Pariah state. A pariah state is a state that is one that is known to be an outcast. These places may even face international isolation, sanctions and it may even come down to an invasion. This can simply be just because another nation don’t like its policies or the fact of pure existence.
- Diplomacy: Church (This includes both Catholic and Protestant churches.) The barrier to this is that Haiti is a place that has three religious beliefs: Catholicism, Protestantism, and Voodoo. There is intolerance and violence between the three of them. Failure to work together will lead to more chaos for Haiti. It can also lead to another political failure capable of being exploited and turned into violence.
- Defense: Creation of a constitution for Haiti. A downfall of this is that Haiti is not likely to enjoy any meaningful democratization without a small quantity of something for the redistribution of resources and wealth.
- Disarmament: This is the reduction in military forces. The military has taken control almost every aspect of Haitian life. Haiti is usually ruled by force.
