Michael Deibert (born 1973) is an American journalist, author and researcher at the Centro de Estudos Internacionais at the
Instituto Universitário de Lisboa.
Biography
Deibert was born in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and is a graduate of
Bard College. His first book, Notes from the Last Testament: The Struggle for Haiti, with an introduction by the Haitian filmmaker
Raoul Peck, was published by
Seven Stories Press in November 2005.[1] Deibert's second book, The Democratic Republic of Congo: Between Hope and Despair, was published as part of the
Zed Books African Arguments series in cooperation with the
Royal African Society, the
International African Institute and the
World Peace Foundation in 2013.[2] A third book, In the Shadow of Saint Death: The
Gulf Cartel and the Price of America's Drug War in Mexico, was published by Lyons Press in June 2014.[3] A new work, Haiti Will Not Perish: A Recent History, was published by Zed Books in summer 2017.[4]
While Deibert's work on Haiti has been praised by Haitian scholars[15][16] and others,[17][18] it has also been criticized by partisans of former Haitian president
Jean-Bertrand Aristide.[19][20] Deibert's book on the Democratic Republic of Congo was called "mandatory reading for anyone interested in building lasting peace in the heart of Africa" by the
Institute of Development Studies, "a comprehensive first-rate account of the tragedy of Congo...Riveting and brutally honest" by the
Free Africa Foundation[21] and "a scrupulously researched reminder of how this corner of the world became so wretched, and of the multiple actors responsible" by The Guardian.[22] Latin American Politics and Society called In the Shadow of Saint Death "a superb piece of reporting on U.S. drug policy and its devastating effects on drug-producing and transit countries in the Western Hemisphere."
[23]
In 2012, he was awarded a Small Peace Research Grant by International Peace Research Association in recognition of his work in the Democratic Republic of Congo.[24]
Since 2017, Deibert has worked extensively in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, and has been highly critical of the approach of the U.S. federal government to the island.[25]
Deibert's 2019 book, When the Sky Fell: Hurricane Maria and the United States in Puerto Rico, was characterized by Publishers Weekly as “an impassioned analysis [that] explores the role of the U.S.'s territorial relationship with Puerto Rico,"[26] and by Library Journal as "a thoroughly researched history of Puerto Rico, presented with the goal of helping readers better understand the ongoing impact of colonialism, and how the U.S. mainland responded to the hurricane's impact."[27]
^Wolf, Sonja (2016). "Drugs, Violence, and Corruption: Perspectives from Mexico and Central America". Latin American Politics and Society. 58: 146–155.
doi:
10.1111/j.1548-2456.2016.00298.x.
S2CID146645552.