Review: Africa's World War, Canada in Sudan

Abstract

AFRICA'S WORLD WAR Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe Gerard Prunier New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. 529PP, $29.95 cl°th (ISBN 978-0-19-537420-9)CANADA IN SUDAN War Without Borders Peter Pigott Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2009. 272PP, $35.00 cloth (ISBN 978-1-55002-849-2)Despite their obvious geographic, linguistic, political, and historical differences, the conflicts in Rwanda and Sudan have recently elicited an interesting comparison. Darren Brunk, a policy adviser for Canada's federal New Democratic party, has suggested that international perceptions of the nature of the Darfur conflict have been viewed largely through the historical burden of the in Rwanda. Because of this, the international community's fixation with Darfur as genocide is based mostly on a collective guilt over the failure of foreign intervention in Rwanda in 1994, and a (false) perception of the similarities between the two conflicts. What is necessary, argues Brunk, is a policy of caution when confronting Darfur, and a reexamination of the conflict within the context of the region's own unique historical variables.While this argument is no doubt relevant, it ignores a crucial factor determining the international community's current concern over both wartorn western Sudan and postwar Rwanda: the ability of any conflict to contribute to conditions of instability in surrounding regions, particularly in relation to human rights violations. In this case, Rwanda and Sudan are undoubtedly linked, perhaps much more than their apparent differences might suggest. Because of the porous nature of many African borders, the socalled spillover effect remains a crucial and challenging aspect of conflict mediation in this region, and has prompted scholars and policymakers to engage in a broad and necessary debate on the nature of these conflicts, and on the ability of western governments to effect positive change.Gerard Prunier has been a central participant in this debate for a number of years. A well-known and respected expert on Africa's Great Lakes region, Prunier is no stranger to conflict. Author of The Rwanda Crisis: History of a Genocide (1997) and the more recent Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide (2007), Prunier has proven himself a sharp critic of the international community, which he argues bears most of the responsibility for allowing African conflicts such as Rwanda and Sudan to escalate.But Prunier has not simply wasted his time pointing fingers. As a scholar, he has earned respect for his ability to spot political and economic linkages, and to pinpoint the connections between seemingly unconnected conflicts. In The Rwanda Crisis, Prunier highlighted the genocide's adverse affects in surrounding countries such as Uganda and Zaire (now the Democratic Republic ofthe Congo). Similarly, in Dar fur: The Ambiguous Genocide, Prunier described the meddling of Libya and Chad in Sudan's internal affairs.In Africa's World War, Prunier builds on this theme of interconnectivity, demonstrating in vivid and painstaking detail the long-term ramifications of Rwanda's tragic genocide. Few scholars have chosen to explore this issue in depth, perhaps because at the heart ofthe problem lie some big issues. The conflict that erupted in the Congo basin in 1998, Prunier tells us, had direct connections to the Rwandan genocide. The displacement of Tutsi and then Hutu refugees in surrounding countries, combined with the existence of ineffective and corrupt regimes in Rwanda and the DRC, catalyzed a war that, Prunier argues, was simply waiting to happen. The war that erupted in 1998 drew into its storm most of the surrounding countries, including Burundi, Uganda, and Sudan, and a number of countries further afield, such as Angola, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. As Prunier suggests, the in Rwanda spawned a truly global war, whose legacy continues to fester in regional hotspots such as Darfur and south-eastern Congo. …