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| Title: | The risks of African military capacity building: lessons from Rwanda |
| Author: | Beswick, Danielle |
| Year: | 2014 |
| Periodical: | African Affairs: The Journal of the Royal African Society (ISSN 1468-2621) |
| Volume: | 113 |
| Issue: | 451 |
| Pages: | 212-231 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Rwanda |
| Subjects: | armed forces capacity building peacekeeping forces military assistance |
| External link: | http://afraf.oxfordjournals.org/content/113/451/212.abstract |
| Abstract: | Civil war and insecurity are widely seen as obstacles to development and threats to international stability, and donors are therefore keen to develop African capacities to manage conflict on the continent. Building the capacity of African militaries is hazardous, however, given their frequent roles in coups, support for authoritarian regimes, and violence against civilians. This article argues that the risks of military capacity building can be assessed more accurately by understanding how national governments view and utilize the military as a policy tool. It demonstrates this using the case of post-genocide Rwanda, a significant contributor to African peacekeeping but also to instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The article identifies four features of the Rwandan regime's understanding and use of military force - mistrust of external actors, an 'interventionist' outlook, a view of the military as an effective bulwark against genocide, and the promotion of an embedded role of the military. These features are used to explain the dual and divisive role of Rwanda's military as an agent of instability on the one hand and peace on the other. Finally, the article explores the M23 rebellion in the DRC in 2012-2013, considering implications for donor efforts to manage risks inherent in international commitments to 'African solutions'. It concludes by arguing that, as African military capacity building continues, recognizing the ways in which such enhanced forces are likely to be used will be crucial to developing a better understanding of the continent's peace and security prospects. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract] |
