A sobering study of the troubled African nation, both pre- and post-genocide, and its uncertain future The brutal civil war between Hutu and Tutsi factions in Rwanda ended in 1994 when the Rwandan Patriotic Front came to power and embarked on an ambitious social, political, and economic project to remake the devastated central-east African nation. Susan Thomson, who witnessed the hostilities firsthand, has written a provocative modern history of the country, its rulers, and its people, covering the years prior to, during, and following the genocidal conflict. Thomson's hard-hitting analysis explores the key political events that led to the ascendance of the Rwandan Patriotic Front and its leader, President Paul Kagame. This important and controversial study examines the country's transition from war to reconciliation from the perspective of ordinary Rwandan citizens, Tutsi and Hutu alike, and raises serious questions about the stability of the current peace, the methods and motivations of the ruling regime and its troubling ties to the past, and the likelihood of a genocide-free future.

Rwanda: Rebuilding of a Nation is a story that takes the reader through a sweeping panorama of Rwanda's history, from its recent past as a nearfailed state to its present as a beacon of hope and successful innovations. Rwanda's rise from the ashes detailed in this book is the culmination of a visionary and laborious process of rebuilding a nation from the brink of collapse. It is also a story of reconciling a people that had been taught to see each other as enemies. Twenty years ago, the world wrote off Rwanda after the worst genocide in recent times left over one million of its people dead and another three million in refugee camps in neighbouring countries. The country was broken in every way possible - socially, culturally, economically and politically. Today, Rwanda has been rebuilt and has become a respectable country, receiving many international accolades for its extraordinary leadership and achievements. The backbone and custodian of this agenda has been and remains the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF). This was the case right from its inception before and during the liberation struggle to the implementation of this transformation. The book traces the success of the RPF-driven transformation, which derives from the combination of three interrelated factors. First, a people-centred governance that has spearheaded community development, ownership and accountability. Second, home-grown initiatives in different sectors that have helped to adequately respond to extraordinary challenges. And third, a visionary leadership that listens to its people and inspires them towards self-reliance and dignity. Finally, the book shows that Rwanda's achievements have been possible because the RPF's development agenda is built on power-sharing, consensus-building, gender equality and the primacy of security.

Filip Reyntjens's book analyzes political governance in post-genocide Rwanda and focuses on the rise of the authoritarian Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). In the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, the RPF has employed various means - rigged elections, elimination of opposition parties and civil society, legislation outlawing dissenting opinions, and terrorism - to consolidate power and perpetuate its position as the nation's ruling party. Although many international observers have hailed Rwanda as a 'success story' for its technocratic governance, societal reforms, and economic development, Reyntjens complicates this picture by casting light on the regime's human rights abuses, social engineering projects, information management schemes, and retributive justice system.

Drawing on extensive survey data, interviews, and observations carried out with teachers and students in fifteen schools across Rwanda, Becoming Rwandan is a thought-provoking study of the power and the limitations of education as a peacebuilding and state-building tool.