Pros And Cons Of Being The President Of Rwanda

In the book “An Ordinary Man” by Paul Rusesabagina, it taught important lessons that came out of the Rwandan genocide, such as detecting early signs of genocide to prevent it and the calamities that a lack of international response brings. First, one critical part of preventing genocide is recognizing the indications that precede it. For example, Paul explains the history between the Hutus and Tutsis and the creation of an ethnic division between them. He supplies, “... all people in Rwanda received identity cards known as books that specified their ethnic class.” and explains the preaching of Tutsi superiority in their country (page 23).

Rwanda has a long history that has contributed to their experiences of great violence and suffering and therefore the need for a peacekeeping. In pre-colonial times there was a division between the superior people being the Tutsi’ and the peasant people being the Hutu’s. King Ruganzu Ndori, being a Tutsi outlined Hutu’s area and showed no hesitation in treating any Hutu’s who opposed the order with unmitigated harshness.

George Santayana once said “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” The Rwanda Genocide is a contemporary representation of the events that occurred during the Armenian Genocide. It is an unforgiving circumstance that even after massacres from the latter and the Holocaust that Genocides still emerge in a world who far too often shuts their door to the idea of intervention. Countries can have an abundance of supplies, unmatchable man-power, and exceptional military equipment, however, with interests in absentia, countries will be reluctant to deploy forces despite exclamations of help. The culmination of the Rwanda Genocide is absolutely an unforgiving portion of history that will be remembered by the victims, the witnesses, and the decision-makers.

Considering the UN’s recent failures to facilitate peace in Africa, more care should have gone into assigning leadership roles. While Dallaire came across as a passionate and enthusiastic leader, he admitted he lacked experience and had no prior knowledge on the history of Rwandan cultural or its ethnic conflicts. Even as Dallaire set up his campaign in a rundown hotel in Kigal the peace agreement was being undermined. His arrival was marked by a slew of riots and assassinations, all of which were tests of his ability to maintain the peace. It soon became apparent to Dallaire and Hutu extremist than the UN was ill prepared to handle the peace keeping mission at hand.

With this conceded class distinction came the fight for reigning ability, and amidst this power vacuum, Rwandans fell victim to conflicting groups and crime, the eventual building blocks that lead to the massacre of 800,000 civilians. The origins of this ethnic loathing and in turn ethnic genocide can be secured to European colonialism, where those who arrived to colonize and yield the wealth of western knowledge, instead carried racist beliefs. Through this haunting event in history, when foreign governments unfittingly place their ideologies in unknown territory, revealed is how uninvited nations can destabilize a state by stimulating ethnic warfare, causing it to collapse and crumble through conflict.

In this paper I will examine the United Nation Security Council attempts at intervention in Rwanda. I will point out the interventions

John A. Ausink establishes the actors within the confines of Rwanda. These actors include the Tutsi and the Hutu. The Tutsi are looked at as elite in a sense but the Hutu make up the majority of the Rwandan population. Ausink also establishes the government of Rwanda early in the piece. “In 1973, General Juvenal Habyarimana seized power in Rwanda and established a government that only allowed political participation by the Republican Movement for Democracy and Development” (Ausink 1997, pg.2). This is important within the context because it leads to the introduction of the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) in 1986. Their presence within Rwanda leads to political unrest and eventually violence. “After the government forces had killed two senior rebel commanders, the RPF resorted to guerrilla warfare . . . “(Ausink, pg. 2, 1997). Habyarimana’s

Imagine living a life of fear, turmoil, with death all around. Hearing gun shots being fired, death chants, machete use, dead bodies everywhere. Afraid to close your eyes at night to rest, yet more afraid to wake up in the morning. To sustain your life and the life of your loved ones you must hide out, kill others, watch your neighbors be killed at the hands of the enemy. Knowing if you are caught you could be forced to murder your own family, be raped, be held captive, be starved to death, and most likely be killed. In 1994, this was the life many faced in Rwanda. “Rwanda has become a synonym for one of the worst genocides of the 20th century (Lemarchand, (n.d.), p. 483).

Rwanda is a country in East Africa, which has had a mass killing with over 800,000 of its civilians dead. On April 6, 1994, present Rwandan President, Paul Kagame - at the time the leader of a Tutsi

After The 1994 Genocide of Rwanda the nation was in shambles. The genocide of 1994, believed the members of the country’s Hutu’s ethnic majority killed nearly 1 million minority Tutsis in a 100 day riot. However, Kagame and other political leaders began the slow process of rebuilding Rwanda. The 2000 presidential election of President Paul Kagame led the Country of Rwanda, toward a big success story. President Kagame is a public advocate and a human rights champion for a new model of foreign aid. President Kagame applies his strategic, tactical attitude to the environment, justice, and economics, but in a very specific way. Some examples; there is not a mango peel on the roads. He made the importation of plastic bags illegal, and the bags are not biodegradable, he not only wants the streets clean, Rwanda is an immaculate nation. Equally important, the country should not rely on worldwide contributions. This President believes poverty

He is also the leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front. Shortly after the genocide, Rwanda developed a gender quota that mandated that at least 30% of legislature seats be comprised of women (Hunt & Heaton, 2014. According to an article in National Geographic (2014), President Kagame has, “mandated that its lineup be 50 percent female”. However, women have far exceeded either of these goals. By 2013, women made up over 60 percent of parliament and Rwanda’s government has pushed for equality in elections and increased education of its citizens about the democratic process (Hunt & Heaton,

First and foremost, Paul Kagame is a visionary leader. He is driven by his desire to see positive change for his country and the people who live there. He wants to instill a hope for the future and create a place where all people, regardless of the ethnicity, are valued and have their needs met. As he was looking to rebuild Rwanda he said, “The future not the past… should guide government policy” (p. 216). He is always looking ahead to see how he can make Rwanda better. Even before his takeover happened, while he was in exile he was part of a group developing plans for the future(p. 220). These plans seemed ambitious and impossible, but Kagame has always been determined to help bring Rwanda to a place of prosperity. Beyond this, Kagame has

hold power in Rwanda and it became a central actor of the new regime. It was established in a transitional government and appointed a National Assembly where the RPF occupies 13 seats out of 70. The Hutu Pasteur Bizimungu is the new President, while Paul Kagame, the Tutsi military leader, assumed the positions of Vice-President together and Minister of Defense. The shock of genocide profoundly marked the regime, defining the vision and the behavior of the new Rwandan elites and shifting political tools. The new administration has to pursue the ambitious goals of pacification and the definition of the democratic

Rwanda is a small country located in central Africa. It borders with Uganda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. One of the most terrible “ethnic conflicts” occurred here in 1994, two tribes fought each other within the same territory, the rest of the world bizarrely ignored this event and thousands of people were killed. The event lasted 100 days and almost 1 million people died, even though the Rwanda government asked other countries for military

Beginning in 2008, my research focuses mostly on Rwanda’s political, militarily, economic reconstruction since the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. This research has led to a greater exploration of regional dynamics between other African Great Lakes region nations. During my various periods living within Rwanda, I have had the opportunity to perform independent research and analysis on the nation’s political, military, agricultural-focused development, religious and social history and presence. This research resulted in my publication for the Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs titled, “Rwanda, Israel, and Operation Protective Edge.” I wish to continue my current research on Rwandan perceptions of the international community with a more specific