Rwanda and the New Scramble for Africa

From Tragedy to Useful Imperial Fiction

Ebook

The book comprises three parts. The first part addresses the little-discussed but crucial events preceding the assassination of the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi
Former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali declared, "The Rwandan genocide was 100% American Responsibility."

Former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali declared, "The Rwandan genocide was 100% American Responsibility."

on April 6, 1994, which triggered massive killings. These include the invasion in 1990, drawn-out guerrilla and terrorist warfare, imposition of a new political and economic order followed by an ill named “peace process” that sanctified the occupation of the country by the invading army, and the assassination of two African heads of state.

The second part, “The Heart of Dark Imaginations,” shows how popular literature on Rwanda has been built on the old clichés, metaphors, and conventions generated during 400 years of slavery, the slave trade, and colonialism, and helped justify them. The resulting narrative is perfectly crafted for the “new scramble for Africa.”

The third part takes down the so-called international criminal justice as applied to Rwanda and explains how and why the murderous, never-ending war in Congo began.

Table of contents

Table of contents
Rwanda and the New Scramble for Africa 1
Contents 4
Acknowledgements 9
List of Illustrations 11
Introduction 13
PART 1 29
Chapter 1 31
Invasion? What Invasion? 31
Chapter 2 51
In the Name of Peaceand Democracy 51
Chapter 3 65
The Power of a Word 65
Chapter 4 79
Scouts at Her Majesty’s Service 79
Chapter 5 89
A Coup by Any Other Name… 89
Chapter 6 107
It Shall Be Called a Plane Crash 107
Chapter 7 117
How Is the Empire? 117
PART 2 129
Chapter 8 131
The Heart of Dark Imaginations 131
Chapter 9 139
Power to Those Who Have It! - Philip Gourevitch 139
Chapter 10 147
The Importance of Being Canadian - Carol Off 147
Chapter 11 157
Sunday at the Cesspool - Gil Courtemanche 157
Chapter 12 165
An Avatar of Colonial Europe - Colette Braeckman 165
PART 3 173
Chapter 13 175
International Criminal Justiceas “Battering Ram” 175
Chapter 14 195
From his Rwandan home, Banished a Wand’rer Came 195
Chapter 15 211
“Watch out for Africa!” Closing in on the Congo 211
Conclusion 229
Notes 239
Appendix I 255
Interview with Captain Amadou Deme “Shock and Awe” in Kigali, April 1994 255
Appendix II 265
Human Rights Watch and Alison Des Forges VS Rwandan Delegation in New York, May 1994 265
Index 271