Rebuilding Haiti More Than Bricks & Mortar

The mobilization inside the United States—among the military, aid groups, the public—to help Haiti has been quick and generous. Hopefully, alongside peacekeepers and other international partners, we can help the Haitians stabilize their country and reduce human suffering. But then the work of rebuilding will begin, as the U.S. helps them to reconstruct their shattered capital and economy. And it will probably not go well. Not because the destruction was so massive (that is a surmountable problem), but because Washington policymakers unfamiliar with development practice still don't understand how to help the Haitians erect a functioning civil society, private economy, and competent government. It's not about reconstruction and humanitarian aid; it's about institutions. And without them, Haiti will remain a failed state.