A Critical Analysis of South African Peacemaking

The African Great Lakes region, where conflict resolution and peace operations have been a challenge for 50 years, has been the site of continuous conflicts in the 1960s and 1990s. Despite South Africa's enormous contribution as a peacemaker in the region since 1996, the situation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) remains fragile.How can another potentially deadly conflict in the Great Lakes region be prevented in the future? And how can South Africa improve its performance as a peacemaker?This book analyses South Africa's peacemaking efforts in the context of three events in the Great Lakes region: the 1994 Rwandan genocide, the First Congo War in 1996, and the Second Congo War in 1998.The study, which focuses on eastern DRC, due to the highest concentration of causalities, aims to explore solutions to conflict by strengthening South Africa's peacemaking opportunities, which is the key to implementing successful conflict prevention. This analysis should be especially useful to academics and students in International Relations and Political Studies, as well as practioners such as humanitarian, development and peace workers in the Great Lakes region.