Gibbons analyzes the ruinous three-year trade embargo imposed on Haiti in response to the September 1991 coup d'etat to President Aristide's return to office in October 1994. She dissects the multidimensional impact of sanctions on Haitian society by examining the economic devastation and social dislocation that they provoked, despite the mitigation of humanitarian exemptions consistently granted by the Security Council. Gibbons also examines the counterproductive, unpredictable effects that sanctions have had on Haiti's nascent democratic institutions and processes.

Drawing on contemporary research of noted academics and international legal experts, this analysis places Haiti's experience of sanctions in a wider context. From the Haiti case, Gibbons draws conclusions about the utility of comprehensive sanctions as an instrument for the advancement of democracy and human rights and recommends measures that policymakers may find better suited to achieving these objectives.