Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has found itself involved in a significant number of conflicts that have ranged from small-scale contingencies to war. Military doctrine has evolved and adapted to this new security environment, to include doctrine for the transition to post-conflict activities. Unfortunately, the strategic focus in the United States usually ends at the point of conflict termination and exit strategy. This paper uses the Marine Corps Small Wars Manual and operations in Haiti as a basis for developing a set of strategic post-conflict planning factors, principles and phases to frame conflict resolution strategies. It suggests that the full implementation of interagency coordination, as directed by PDD-56, coupled with a thorough understanding of the planning factors, principles and phases associated with post-conflict operations, will facilitate U.S. influence in such international operations to achieve U.S. national security objectives.