The Dynamics of Violence in Central Africa

by René Lemarchand

Endowed with natural resources, majestic bodies of fresh water, and a relatively mild climate, the Great Lakes region of Central Africa has also been the site of some of the world's bloodiest atrocities. In Rwanda, Burundi, and the Congo-Kinshasa, decades of colonial subjugation--most infamously under Belgium's Leopold II--were followed by decades of civil warfare that spilled into neighboring countries. When these conflicts lead to horrors such as the 1994 Rwandan genocide, ethnic difference and postcolonial legacies are commonly blamed, but, with so much at stake, such simple explanations cannot take the place of detailed, dispassionate analysis."The Dynamics of Violence in Central Africa" provides a thorough exploration of the contemporary crises in the region. By focusing on the historical and social forces behind the cycles of bloodshed in Rwanda, Burundi, and the Congo-Kinshasa, Rene Lemarchand challenges much of the conventional wisdom about the roots of civil strife in former Belgian Africa. He offers telling insights into the appalling cycle of genocidal violence, ethnic strife, and civil war that has made the Great Lakes region of Central Africa the most violent on the continent, and he sheds new light on the dynamics of conflict in the region.Building on a full career of scholarship and fieldwork, Lemarchand's analysis breaks new ground in our understanding of the complex historical forces that continue to shape the destinies of one of Africa's most important regions.

Genres: Africa, History, Nonfiction, Politics, Burundi

344 pages, Paperback

First published October 17, 2008

Reviews

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the many excellent books in English that have been published in the recent past on the Congo, its wars and its neighbors. Rene Lemarchand has studied the history, economy and politics of Rwanda, Burundi and the Congo (Zaire, the DRC) and analyzes the doleful wars, mass killings, systematic looting and general collapse that have characterized these states. I think that his most important addition to the discussion is in discrediting two of the dominant myths that have stymied well-meaning attempts at real reform.

The first involves the 1994 Rwandan genocide. He never downplays the horror of the massacres and the immorality and guilt of those covered with the blood of hundreds of thousands of Rwandan Tutsis but Lemarchand shows how it was a part of a continuum of slaughter involving Tutsis, Hutus and Congolese from all three countries and that comparisons to the systematic killing of Jews by the Nazis (a popular metaphor) are specious at best. For years the leaders of Rwanda have branded anyone who dissents from the accepted accounts 1994 as, if not genocidaires themselves then apologists for the machete wielding mobs. Paul Kagame has used the shock and revulsion of the Rwandan genocide and the guilt of the UN, France, Belgium and other western powers for not raising a finger to stop it.

Lemarchand rejects the “good Tutsi victims” versus “bad Hutu killers” formulation since it ignores the 1972 slaughter of Hutu in Burundi, the massacre of Hutu refugees in eastern Congo, or the systematic elimination of Hutu civilians during and after the 1990 invasion of Rwanda by Kagame’s soldiers. Reducing everything to a slogan means never having to deal with a complex set of circumstances.

A more recent myth is that the continuing warfare in what is called a “post-conflict situation” is due to the demand by western companies for cheap minerals from the Congo. These companies and their African puppets, according to the received telling of events, are both the initial motive and the reason for continuing large scale violence. Lemarchand shows that it is social and economic exclusion of millions of people based on ethnicity, tribal origins or language that was the real impetus for organized carnage. The inability of the vast majority of the citizens of the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi to effect or even influence the political decisions that exclude them from any sense of control of their lives creates a good atmosphere for recruitment for the irregular militias that plague the African Great Lakes region. Those in power and the donor nations that allow them to continue in power haven’t and won’t change things.

“The Dynamics of Violence in Central Africa” isn’t an easy book—not that it is obscure, poorly written or full of undefined technical terms but because of the brutal story it tells of the horrors of constant warfare with no end in sight.

It should be on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the recent history of the Great Lakes region.

[Andrew Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-researched book by one of the leading experts on Rwanda/Burundi, its reliability is without parallel. This is an absolutely first-rate source for reading about the specifics of much of the history relating to 1972/1994/1993-2006

If those dates don't mean anything to you immediately, then you definitely should not read this book. It assumes a tremendous degree of knowledge, so its really suited for researchers or for people with a great interest. I'd recommend reading at least 3-5 books on Rwanda/Burundi before reading this, otherwise you will likely be lost.
The main drawback for me was that it was not written in 2021, too much of it is too set in the perspective of when it was written, but this is nonetheless a first rate irreplaceable source