Gangs, Netwar, and "Communiter Counterinsurgency" in Haiti by David C. Becker, NDU's Prism. Here's the abstract:
Haiti, the epitome of a fragile state, has been receiving international assistance via repeated UN missions and U.S. interventions for more than 20 years. Criminal gangs exploited the country's sovereignty gap by wresting control over territory from the state and acquiring legitimacy among certain poor populations. The gangs can be understood as a network of "violence entrepreneurs" operating within a complex environment, a system of systems within the slums. While not as sophisticated as major international criminal organizations, between 2006 and 2007 the politically connected criminal gangs constituted a major challenge for the state and the UN peacekeeping mission, as well as a threat to national stability. The U.S. Government funded an innovative and integrated effort, the Haiti Stabilization Initiative (HSI), to counter the threat by investing in an analogous but countervailing approach reinforcing "social entrepreneurs" and their networks. This supplanted undesirable feedback loop effects with ones that enhance and consolidate stability. Risky participatory and community-led stabilization interventions marginalized and undermined gangs on their home turf. Using development tools for stabilization purposes, HSI stabilization goals were political rather than "needs-based" in nature. While the flexible and comprehensive approach generated important gains, there were also lessons learned and recognition of the initiative's limitations.
Read the full article: Gangs, Netwar, and "Communiter Counterinsurgency" in Haiti.