Study Questions
Cox, Rwanda

  1. How does Cox describe the differences between Hutu and Tutsi prior to the arrival of Europeans?
    What impact do Europeans, especially Belgium, have on those ethnic categories?

  2. What theory did John Hanning Speke propose and how was this theory later exploited by the Hutu themselves?

  3. What happens to Rwanda in the late 1950s and early 1960s? What role does Belgium play? What kind of government emerges? What happens to many Tutsi during this period?

  4. Who takes power in 1973? What kind of government does he lead?

  5. What happens in Rwanda in the late 1980s and early 1990s that leads to the rise of Hutu extremism?
    Does Cox suggest that the RPF might be at least partially responsible?

  6. How do events in Burundi in 1993 affect Rwanda?

  7. What are the Arusha Accords, UNAMIR, and RTLM?

  8. How did Alison des Forges summarize the situation in Rwanda from the RPF invasion in 1990 up to the outbreak of genocide?

  9. When the genocide begins, who are among the first people and groups targeted?

  10. How many victims were there, what percent were Tutsi, when were most killed, who were the main orchestrators of the genocide, and approximately how many participated?

  11. How did the West (media and governments) tend to view the conflict in Rwanda? What other conflicts in Europe and Africa played a role in those views?

  12. Summarize the role that rape played in this (and other) genocide(s) as well as its effects. Review the Human Rights Watch “Shattered Lives” excerpt.

  13. Summarize the policies and actions of the US and France (and the international community in general) during the genocide. When they finally act in June, what is the impact?

  14. What does Cox emphasize about the ambiguous, even contradictory actions of some Hutu (and see the quotation from Primo Levi)?

  15. While the ICTR certainly had limitations, what important contributions of the tribunal does Cox highlight?

  16. Has the RPF also been guilty of atrocities? Why has that been less well known?

  17. What were the gacaca courts and what results have they achieved?

  18. Describe the post-genocide regime led by Paul Kagame.

  19. What has occurred in the Congo (Zaire/Democratic Republic of Congo) since the Rwandan genocide?

  20. Why does Prunier argue that the Rwandan genocide is incomparable?

  21. What are some of Cox’s main conclusions regarding why the genocide occurred?