Rwanda In Respect Summary

Adriana Ramirez

Dr. Inrig

POL 151

31 March 2015

Response Essay

“Rwanda in Retrospect”

-Kuperman, Alan J.

In the article “Rwanda in Retrospect,” Alan J. Kuperman argues that any kind of intervention would not have been able to save even half of the total victims that lost their lives in the Rwandan genocide of 1994. He bases his argument on three main claims: 1) no possible intervention could have saved 500,000 victims, (although it was actually 800,000 including the deaths of members in the Hutu clans), 2) the Bill Clinton administration did not know what was going on in Rwanda until the end of April two weeks into the genocide, and 3) even if the United States did decide to intervene, the help would not have arrived in time because the deaths

In the country of Rwanda, three groups make up the population: the Hutu, the Tutsi, who originally dominated politics, and the aboriginal Twa. However, during the beginnings of independence in 1959, the Tutsis were no longer in power as the Hutus managed to seize power during the times of violence in the region. A main factor causing this result was the size of the groups; the majority of the Rwandan population was Hutu but only 17% was Tutsi. In an attempt to gain their control back, the Tutsi refugees invaded Rwanda and the Hutus responded by killing many of the members of the Tutsis clan. The Hutus dominated every political aspect in Rwanda, from military to economics and violence with the Tutsi evaded for nearly fifteen years. Then in 1990, a Tutsi rebel force known as the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) invaded northern Rwanda and a Hutu officer by the name of Juvenal Habyarimana was compelled to share power with the Tutsis in the Arusha accords of 1993. Habyarimana was then killed in his plane when he began to agree to international pressure on sharing power in 1994, this marked the beginnings of genocide in the

Once members in positions of authority recognize and understand this, then they will be able to accomplish resolving humanitarian issues, such as mass killings and genocide. Power’s book claims that the pattern of U.S. failure to assist with humanitarian issues is caused mainly because of the structure of the American political system. Kaufmann also states that out of all the genocides that have occurred since WWII, the Rwandan genocide of 1994 has been the most blatant failing of the U.S. aid. While I agree with Kaufmann’s statement of the United States being able to prevent the deaths of innocent victims had they intervened and taken effective measures to reduce the number of killings, there are several different factors to consider, such as transportation and preparation. I also agree with Power’s claim that the organization of the American political system is a great challenge in assisting to prevent