| This study examines U.S. policy toward Haiti from the perspective of key U.S. policy-makers during the period between the Haitian political crisis of September 1991 and the 1994 U.S. military intervention in Haiti. It focuses on the foreign policymaking process model to determine whether U.S. policy during this period was largely effective in promoting democracy in Haiti.; Using historical research, interviews with key actors within and without the U.S. government and analyses of important congressional and executive branch documents, this study provides an account of how key decision makers and actors responded to the Haitian crisis during the Bush and the Clinton administrations.; This study argues and finds that contrary to its stated goal, U.S. policy toward Haiti, in fact, was not effective and was not successful in promoting "true" democracy. In the absence of a threat to its national security interests, the United States reacted primarily to the crisis because of its direct implications on the domestic politics of the country. From the U.S. policymakers' perspectives, Haiti's political stability was more important than its establishment as a democracy, its stand on social justice and its protection of human rights.; My research concludes that U.S.-Haiti policy, which led to the 1994 military intervention, was largely ineffective in both formulation and implementation. The Clinton administration decided to take actions to resolve the crisis only after the liberal sectors in the government and the non-government actors, including Congressional Black Caucus members, human rights activists, religious groups and Randall Robinson of the Trans-Africa Forum, began to denounce the U.S.-Haiti policy.; The 1994 U.S. military intervention in Haiti was meaningful only as a political gesture, a means of satisfying the pressure groups and of stemming the flow of the Haitian refugees coming to the United States. In the long term, it was less expensive to return Aristide to power than to take care of the Haitian refugees. Military intervention in Haiti was not about restoring democracy to Haiti but rather about encouraging the Haitians to stay home and promoting a model of government that served U.S. interests. |
