Building Nations: Transitional Justice in the African Great Lakes Region

The volume offers a sweeping introduction to the politics of transition in the four principle nations in the African Great Lakes region; It may be of use to government officials, international humanitarian workers, local actors and entrepreneurs who seek to work in the region but find the history, wars and recent hopes of transition somewhat confusing. Each country study is divided into four sections, each of which may appeal to different readers: Section 1: the current situation; Section 2: a discussion of the history as it led into the present moment Section 3: an overview of formal transitional justice initiatives (truth commissions, interventions by the International Criminal Court etc); Section 4: an introduction to traditional methods of resolving conflict (including community based justice mechanisms) - an area of research rapidly drawing widespread interest among researchers and international actors. Candidly critical of failing policies in the region, the title at the same time distances itself from the glib dismissals often made by outsiders. This work is appreciate of initiatives on the ground, however imperfect, holding the view that they should be engaged in order to help produce a decisive break with historically entrenched patterns of conflict.