Members of Haiti’s new national military force run during training at a former U.N. base, Gressier, Haiti, April 11, 2017 (AP photo by Dieu Nalio Chery).
Two Decades After Disbanding Its Army, Haiti Recruits for a New One
Thursday, July 20, 2017
Haiti began recruitment this week for a new army, an institution that was disbanded in the mid-1990s under then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The recruitment drive comes as the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti is being replaced by a smaller mission focused on rule of law. In an email interview, Geoff Burt, executive director of the Center for Security Governance and editor-in-chief of Stability: International Journal of Security and Development, describes the Haitian army’s troubled history and the challenges to making the new one both effective and apolitical.
WPR: Why was Haiti’s army disbanded in 1995, and what security threats or other factors are prompting the government to create a new one? ...