This book describes and analyzes protracted conflicts in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. In doing so, it emphasizes obstacles to peace rather than root causes of conflict. Case studies are presented from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Northern Kenya, Northern Uganda, Southern Sudan, and Zanzibar. Amongst other conclusions, the book shows that, to settle or transform protracted conflicts, distinction must be made between strategic and nonstrategic actors: the former must be able to prevail upon the latter in the negotiation and implementation of peace agreements. The theme and collection of the research presented in this book is unique in the literature. The case studies all employ methods of othick description, o process tracing (following particular actors and their interests), and in-depth personal interviews. The book will be of interest to academics, researchers, undergraduate and post-graduate students, and professionals in conflict theory, analysis and resolution, African and development studies, political science and international affairs, as well as to mediators, negotiators, and facilitators in conflict resolution

Driven by genocide, civil war, political instabilities, ethnic and pastoral hostilities, the African Great Lakes Region, primarily Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Burundi, has been overwhelmingly defined by conflict. Kenneth Omeje, Tricia Redeker Hepner, and an international group of scholars, many from the Great Lakes region, focus on the interlocking conflicts and efforts toward peace in this multidisciplinary volume. These essays present a range of debates and perspectives on the history and politics of conflict, highlighting the complex internal and external sources of both persistent tension and creative peacebuilding. Taken together, the essays illustrate that no single perspective or approach can adequately capture the dynamics of conflict or offer successful strategies for sustainable peace in the region.

The Great Lakes region of Africa is characterized by protest politics, partial democratization, political illegitimacy and unstable economic growth. Many of the countries that are members of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) which are: Burundi, Angola, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Zambia, have experienced political violence and bloodshed at one time or another. While a few states have been advancing electoral democracy, environmental protection and peaceful state building, the overall intensity of violence in the region has led to civil wars, invasion, genocide, dictatorships, political instability, and underdevelopment. Efforts to establish sustainable peace, meaningful socio-economic development and participatory democracy have not been quite successful. Using various methodologies and paradigms, this book interrogates the complexity of the causes of these conflicts; and examines their impact and implications for socio-economic development of the region. The non-consensual actions related to these conflicts and imperatives of power struggles supported by the agents of savage capitalism have paralysed efforts toward progress. The book therefore recommends new policy frameworks within regionalist lenses and neo-realist politics to bring about sustainable peace in the region.

Any analysis aimed at coming up with strategies to positively transform a confl ict has fi rst to identify all the actors involved and interests pursued, either individually or collectively. This rule applies best to protracted confl icts like the one under scrutiny. In this research study, Ladislas Bizimana tries to answer the most fundamental question: Who has been doing what, why, how in the bloody confl ict that continues to plunge the peoples of the African Great Lakes region into mourning? In doing so, Ladislas draws upon both his personal experience and professional background. As a Rwandan who lived through and survived the 1994 Rwandan horror, Ladislas speaks from within. This matchless, insightful and compelling testimony is enriched by his being a former TV and Radio reporter working for humanitarian agencies in the African Great Lakes region (1994-1995).

This book examines the international factors such as enforced democracy and globalization that have affected the Great Lakes region of Africa. The horrendous consequences in terms of violence and human suffering of the events in this area have been exhibited in the media, however news coverage after 1994 was at times unreliable. This book takes a look at life since then, adopting an independent, and on occasion controversial perspective.

This edited work explores the sources of conflict in Africa's Great Lakes region, as well as local and international attempts to rebuild political authority and reduce the scale of human suffering.

Since the early 1990s the African Great Lakes region -- defined here as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania -- has been convulsed by genocide, civil wars, inter-state conflict and flawed democratic transitions. With UN-sponsored peace processes underway in DRC and Burundi and projects of state and societal reconstruction apparently advancing in Rwanda and Uganda, there are hopes that the epoch of violence and exploitation in the African Great Lakes region is finally drawing to an end. This Research Paper offers an assessment of how well founded these hopes are. The next step on the road to regional peace and stability is the second round of the presidential election in the DRC, which takes place on 29 October 2006. Much rests on a peaceful and legitimate outcome.