Message from the Editor

Dear Colleagues,

With this issue of the Security and Defense Studies Review, CHDS initiates what we believe will become a frequent part of the electronic journal’s offering, a Special Edition. This issue is composed of articles and essays that reflect the results of a research project undertaken by CHDS at the suggestion of the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy of the Department of Defense. The project is entitled “Capacity Building for Peacekeeping in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Case of Haiti.”

Our Research Director, Dr. John Fishel, assisted by Associate Research Professor Andrés Saenz, assembled a team of researchers from the countries participating in the Haiti peacekeeping mission since early 2004. This team produced the works that are captured in this volume. The researchers’ efforts reflect the variety of perspectives that each participating country brought to the peacekeeping operation (PKO). The editors have also included introductory and concluding pieces that add coherence and significance to the individual research efforts, and suggest ideas that may enhance future such missions by Western Hemisphere countries in a combined operational environment.

We have chosen this forum, the electronic journal of CHDS, to make the results of this research available to the wider community of influence and interest in a timely manner. The project directors have served as the guest editors of this volume. We believe it will make a useful contribution to better understanding PKO in general and by Western Hemisphere countries in particular. Moreover, we hope that it will be helpful in evaluating PKO Haiti and enhancing lessons learned for future peacekeeping operations.

As always, your readers’ comments are invited with respect to both the content of this edition and the value of the format for Security and Defense Studies Review readers and contributors.

Cordially,

Richard D. Downie, Ph. D.
Director, CHDS

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