Overview
Dr. Evans examines the international responses to the ethnic conflicts in Burundi and Rwanda from 1993-1997 and their overspill into Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). A senior UK diplomat, she concludes that the international response was impotent and incoherent—soundbite diplomacy led decision-makers to act before adequately assessing the situation and in the end it was the power of local rather than international intervention that set the agenda and provided the solution.
The author urges a number of changes in response by the international community: that the UN should create a Conflict Analysis Center at its headquarters in New York; that governments need to promote lateral understanding and co-operation between different players, including the media and the non-governmental organization community; that enlightened outside support can be most valuable when an inexperienced government has just taken over; and that greater understanding is needed on the part of Western states that traditional Western patterns of diplomacy are often inappropriate in other regions. Instead, non-party democracy and a strong element of subregional cooperation may be the models for the future.