Genocide In Rwanda Essay
The genocide in Rwanda is arguably one of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century. In 100 days approximately 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were murdered in brutal waves of violence. Despite this, the international community stood by and did nothing. There have been many arguments made over just why this was, ranging from ignorance of the situation, apathy towards peacekeeping missions, or simply having more pressing issues than a tiny state in Central Africa. This essay will examine why it was that the international community failed to prevent the genocide in Rwanda. It will do this by examining the role of the UN, Britain, the United States, France and the role of the media before looking at the brief argument that there was nothing
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Both Britain and the US had little or no interest in the country which caused neither state to want to risk sending troops in to what could be a complex situation. This translated into a lack of effort made on the part of the UN with regards to peacekeepers, sanctions and reacting as the situation developed, as, with two Security Council members disinterested and other humanitarian crises developing in Eastern Europe, any action in Rwanda would have been an uphill battle. While there was one country with an interest and influence in the region, France, they abused their power there and instead trained and, arguably, aided the genocidal interim government in killing Tutsis. The media played a central role in compelling the international community into inaction by limited reporting on the situation or playing down what was occurring there, thus further compelling inaction on the part of the UN, Britain and the US. While there is an argument made that the genocide in Rwanda was inevitable, due to long-running ethnic tensions and the speed with which it developed, had the international community reacted quickly enough and with enough force then it could have been prevented before it even started. As it was, the international community lacked the drive for intervention in Rwanda, which enabled the Hutu nationalists to follow through on their genocidal
Both Britain and the US had little or no interest in the country which caused neither state to want to risk sending troops in to what could be a complex situation. This translated into a lack of effort made on the part of the UN with regards to peacekeepers, sanctions and reacting as the situation developed, as, with two Security Council members disinterested and other humanitarian crises developing in Eastern Europe, any action in Rwanda would have been an uphill battle. While there was one country with an interest and influence in the region, France, they abused their power there and instead trained and, arguably, aided the genocidal interim government in killing Tutsis. The media played a central role in compelling the international community into inaction by limited reporting on the situation or playing down what was occurring there, thus further compelling inaction on the part of the UN, Britain and the US. While there is an argument made that the genocide in Rwanda was inevitable, due to long-running ethnic tensions and the speed with which it developed, had the international community reacted quickly enough and with enough force then it could have been prevented before it even started. As it was, the international community lacked the drive for intervention in Rwanda, which enabled the Hutu nationalists to follow through on their genocidal