Summary

• Progress toward a better Haiti during President Michel Martelly’s first year was undermined by a multitude of political crises.
• Confirmation of a new prime minister by Haiti’s parliament provides an opportunity to rectify previous missteps and begin moving Haiti toward a peaceful and prosperous future.
• An important indicator of the new prime minister’s agenda for improving conditions among Haiti’s impoverished majority will be the success of new social programs.
• Increased foreign direct investment and augmented domestic revenue—the latter linked to an anti-corruption campaign—are important components of the new prime minister’s strategy to revitalize Haiti’s economy and society.

About this Brief

The author, Robert Maguire, is the chairman of USIP’s Haiti Working Group and a former USIP Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow (2008-2009). He is a professor of the Practice of International Affairs in the International Development Studies Program of the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and director of GWU’s Latin America and Hemispheric Studies Program. This report is based on research and interviews conducted by the author in Washington, Haiti and elsewhere. Analysis was facilitated by the author’s participation in the annual meetings of the Haitian Studies Association in Kingston, Jamaica and the Caribbean Studies Association in Point-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe.