Even before humanitarian aid hit the ground in Port-au-Prince, international pundits and policymakers alike were discussing what long term role, if any, the United States and the United Nations should play in Haiti's post-earthquake reconstruction.  While Haitian President Rene Preval insists that the international community has not and will not usurp the power of the national government, the international consensus seems to be that the Haitian government's capacity has been significantly weakened by the earthquake and that it cannot, on its own, manage the complex reconstruction process.  And, of course, it's not just infrastructure that needs to be rebuilt - governance structures need reform and strengthening as well.

International law scholar and Director of the Institute for Transborder Studies, Dr. Noemi Gal-Or, argues at the blog IntLawGrrls that an "international partnership based trusteeship" should be established to govern Haiti during the reconstruction process. This trusteeship, as proposed by Dr. Gal-Or, would be made up of "friends of Haiti" (presumably led by the United Nations) and chaired by the Prime Minister of Haiti. Dr. Gal-Or suggests that such a transitional governance structure could be established within and coordinated through a revamped U.N. Trusteeship Council.

Of course, there are a number of issues with this proposal.  First, the Trusteeship Council was established in 1945 to oversee the decolonization of dependent territories in Africa and Asia and it officially suspended operations in 1994.  Haiti is not a colony but a sovereign nation with a fierce history of nationalism and resistence to colonialism and neo-colonialism.  While Dr. Gal-Or argues that, with the functional collapse of the Haitian government post-earthquake, the country's sovereignty has been de facto suspended, Haitians are likely to see the situation differently.  Haitian leaders aren't going to turn away international aid, but heavy handed efforts by the international community to manage governance functions will almost certainly be met with resistance.

Second, while it is not new for the United Nations to play a governance role in post-conflict or unstable countries (see East Timor and Kosovo), it would be new if they actually succeeded in creating a functioning, accountable and popularly-accepted state structure.  No amount of technical assistance can manufacture good national leaders or establish strong democratic institutions in just a few years.  East Timor was considered the United Nations' main state-building success of the late 1990s, but in 2006, devastating fighting broke out between unhappy government soldiers and the police. Today, the country has stabilized again, but it remains poor and unstable.

So what does this mean for Haiti?  It's clear that the international community has a moral obligation to support Haiti in what will be a long-term reconstruction process.  But this effort should be undertaken with respect for the sovereignty of the Haitian people and humility in understanding the limits of what any outside effort can accomplish.