The World

The normal tools of political and economic analysis seem somehow irrelevant – or even distasteful – in the face of a calamity like the Haitian earthquake. Thousands of people have died; thousands more are destitute or trapped under rubble. After reporting these ghastly facts, is there anything more to say?

Of course, the mechanics of the international rescue effort need to be reported. One assumes the US will take the lead. But it was interesting that one of the first planes to land in Port-Au-Prince was from China Air – and that even poor old Iceland is sending assistance. I guess the Haitian earthquake puts even their problems into perspective.

Of course, Haiti was a wretched place, even before this happened. This piece from the International Crisis Group from last year, foresaw a surge in political instability. And, even as the neighbours rush to help, they will be thinking about the effects on their own nations. The US and the Dominican Republic will be worried about new surges of refugees. And efforts to somehow establish a decent political system in Haiti have been maimed – with the UN headquarters, the presidential palace, the parliament and, indeed, the entire economy, now in ruins. Apparently Baby Doc Duvalier is still around and living in Brooklyn.

But I am slipping into the mode that I lamented at the beginning of this post – and turning a human tragedy into a political story that can be “analysed” in terms that are rational and, therefore, oddly comforting. There was nothing rational about what happened to Haiti yesterday.