In 1804 Haiti became the world’s first independent Black republic following a slave revolution. Two hundred years later, ravaged by colonialism and corrupt elites, it was placed under a UN military occupation.

Haiti’s New Dictatorship is the history of the past seven years, from the 2004 coup against Aristide to the devastating 2010 earthquake,revealing a shocking story of abuse and neglect by international forces. Justin Podur reveals the reality of a supposedly benign international occupation, arguing that the denial of sovereignty is the fundamental cause of Haiti’s problems.

A powerful challenge and wake-up call to the international NGO and development community, Haiti’s New Dictatorship is essential reading for anyone concerned with justice in the global south and progressive development policies.

Justin Podur is an associate professor of environmental studies at York University. He is a writer on political conflicts and social movements, and has reported from numerous countries including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan, Haiti and Israel/ Palestine. He is a contributor to Empire’s Ally: Canadian Foreign Policy and the War in Afghanistan (2012).

Justin Podur's profile page

“The UN occupation of Haiti promised to bring stability and democracy. Instead it has delivered cholera, rape and repression. Justin Podur expertly exposes the abuses that ‘the international community’ has inflicted on one of the world’s poorest countries-from the brutal imposition of structural adjustment and the driving out of a democratically elected president to the politicization of earthquake relief.”

Greg Grandin, Professor of History, New York University

“Podur’s book explains how a country that is nominally democratic suffers under the yoke of a ‘New Dictatorship’ in which international actors and their Haitian elite partners leave the majority of Haitians with little effective influence over their own economic and political affairs.”

Brian Concannon, Director of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti

“A systematic analysis. … Podur offers a timely overview of the whole period of post-Aristide Haiti, right up to the present day.”

Peter Hallward, Professor of Modern European Philosophy at Kingston University and author of Damming the Flood: Haiti, Aristide, and the Politics of Containment

“The centuries-long torture of Haiti, and the courageous resistance of its people, is one of the most dramatic and compelling stories of modern history. It is vividly brought to life in this highly illuminating study, which also provides valuable lessons about western power and ideology.”

Noam Chomsky Institute Professor and Professor of Linguistics (Emeritus), Massachusetts Institute of Technology