Haiti: A Study in Canadian-American Cooperation in the Western Hemisphere
Abstract
The case of Haiti provides insights into Canadian-American cooperating in regional and security issues. Washington and Ottawa shared the same interests, faced similar domestic pressures, and for the most part held a common view over how to pursue restoration of the deposed Aristide government. The only major divergence came when the United States decided to resolve the Haiti crisis by invasion and Canada declined to participate. However, after the American intervention, Canada became a willing participant in the United Nations peacekeeping operation in Haiti and assumed leadership of the UN operation after the United States met its self-imposed one-year deadline for withdrawal of its peacekeepers. The degree of harmony in the two governments' approaches to Haiti is especially remarkable in that it continued for several years and through changes of government in both Washington and Ottawa. This paper will review the crisis in Haiti from the coup in September 1991 through the end of the UN peacekeeping operation in 1997. It will focus on the evolution of American and Canadian policies toward Haiti and attempt to explain how Canada and the United States maintained their cooperation in pursuit of reversing the military coup and restoring of the elected government.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 25, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA380120
Entities
People
- James A. Helis
Organizations
- United States Army War College