Casimir describes the Haitian Revolution and independence as two things at once: a secessionist war against the colonial metropole, and a deep civil fracture. The revolution figures here as an accident within the modern West's sphere of influence, one whose structures are still working themselves out inside and outside the country.

Read over the long term, Haiti's history appears as a failed attempt to reach a compromise after that unexpected split. The argument is that Haiti is now undergoing a forced return to assimilation on terms set by wealthy countries, under a new metropole, the United States.

The oligarchy of Haiti's French citizens fares badly too: its position is precarious, and it loses as the state and the nation decline more rapidly. Facing these fractures squarely, the article proposes, would let Haiti pursue its freedom from a shared internal starting point.