Provides the genealogy and history of the African Great Lakes region. It has been the scene of a series of overlapping traumas which have disrupted its geopolitical, economic, social and demographic stability. Despite numerous peace accords, local political compromises and various international interventions, it has yet to find stability.

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.

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 offers a wide-ranging discussion of the roots and consequences of ethnic strife in Burundi, and provides the reader with an appropriate background for an understanding of Burundi's transition to multiparty democracy and the coup and violence that followed.

The Great Lakes region of Africa is troubled. Burundi is experiencing continued turmoil due to a recent contentious election. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, or DRC, has had some level of conflict since the late 1990s. The Lord's Resistance Army, also known as the LRA, has plagued several of these countries. Alleged plundering of DRC resources by Rwanda and Uganda has never been fully resolved. Nations in the region have been preoccupied in the last 2 years with resolving the South Sudanese Civil War. Definitions vary, but the Great Lakes region, as defined by the U.S. Department of State, comprises Burundi, DRC, Rwanda, and Uganda. The region is among the most densely populated in Africa, especially around Lake Victoria, and enjoys rich agricultural potential, water resources, minerals, and wildlife. However, political instability, conflict, humanitarian crises, and lack of development remain key challenges.

"This book ... focuses on the European invasion of the GLR. It analyses the factors that underlay the invasion, the demarcation process that followed and the indigenous people’s responses to it. What is worth noting is that most of the anti-colonial struggles in the GLR were anchored in religion. Reference is made to the Maji Maji Rebellion, the Nyabingi Movement, the Lamogi Movement, Dini Ya Misambwa and the different independent churches that arose in the GLR during colonialism. Even the more secular Mau Mau Movement integrated religious cultural practices in its bondings through oath taking. The most pronounced was the Nyabingi Movement, which covered almost the whole region – Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC and Uganda ... This work investigates why [the groups] resisted, the nature of their resistance and the reasons why they were defeated. It explains why and how the European colonisation of this region created material conditions and seeds for thesubsequent recurrent conflicts in the GLR."--Page 6.