An African Peace Process

Foreword by Nelson Mandela
Preface
Acknowledgements
About the authors
List of abbreviations

1. South Africa’s role in the Burundi peace process: why does it matter?

2. International intervention in Burundi: background considerations

• The legal basis for international interventions in conflict-torn countries
• The United Nations in Burundi: the limits to action
• The regional context of South African involvement in Burundi

3. War and the decline of human security in Burundi

• Geographic and economic fundamentals
• The socio-economic impact of war
• Violations of human rights
• The international response

4. The roots of the crisis

• From ethnicity to race?
• The Hutu revolution in Rwanda
• Counter-revolution in Burundi: political struggles after independence
• The general election of 1993

5. Democracy aborted: from coup to civil war

• The 'creeping coup' of 1993-94

6. Arusha I: background to the Arusha Peace Accord

• Early summits: Mwanza and the Arusha I, April - July 1996
• The road to Arusha II, August 1996 - June 1998

7. The Arusha II negotiations: from Nyerere to Mandela

• Who should be allowed to talk? The issue of inclusion
• Talking through committees

8. Madiba magic? Nelson Mandela’s role as mediator

• Weaving the magic: Mandela's approach to the negotiations
• The signing of the Arusha Agreement
• The signing of a ceasefire
• The Donors' Conference of December 2000
• Towards the transition

9. South Africa’s continuing role

• 'Our boys in Burundi'
• From protection to peacekeeping
• Building on Madiba: South Africa's continuing diplomacy

10. Burundi’s fragile transition: from Buyoya to Ndayizeye

• Regional attempts to stabilise the transition
• Ceasefire agreements between the government and three rebel groups
• The (limited) deployment of the African Union Peacekeeping Force
• The Presidential transition from Buyoya to Ndayizeye

11. Burundi’s transition under Ndayizeye: from impasse to a fragile deal

• Regional differences in the lead up to the September 2003 Summit
• Consultative talks at Sun City, 21 - 24 August 2003
• The Regional Summit of 15 - 16 September: the end of the road for Arusha?
• Sunshine after the rain? The making of a deal
• Faltering forward steps: the FNL talks to Ndayizeye
• The regional imbroglio: one step forward, two steps back?

12. The contradictory dynamics of democratisation and demilitarisation

• Cantonments and reform of the army
• Refugees, resettlement and the challenge of domestic order
• The conduct of prospective elections
• Political competition and electoral dynamics
• The prospects for peace
• Can Burundi's elites make a pact for peace?
• Towards a 'generosity moment'
• Towards reconciliation?

13. Burundian civil society and South African linkages

• Civil society in Burundi
• The exclusion of civil society from the peace process
• ACCORD'S engagement in Burundi
• The involvement of the Action Support Centre in Burundi
• Knocking on the door: calls from civil society for inclusion in the peace process

14. Sustaining the peace: lessons from South Africa?

• Overcoming race and ethnicity as tools of division
• A reconciliation with history
• Amnesty and justice: will a Truth Commission work for Burundi?
• Military dominance, minority rule and human rights
• Material inequality and the need for redress
• Achieving civic responsibility

15. Concluding observations: Mandela, South Africa and Burundi

• Mandela's contribution
• South Africa's involvement in Burundi
• Working for peace: the responsibility of Burundians

Postscript: ‘We cannot accept to die like hens’ – Tutsi fears and regional peace

• 'The last steps are the hardest': Tutsi parties baulk at election
• Crisis in the Great Lakes

Bibliography and other sources

Before joining the Sociology of Work Unit (SWOP) at the University of the Witwatersrand as Honorary Research Professor, Roger Southall was a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Democracy and Governance research programme of the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa and Professor and Head of the Department of Political Studies at Rhodes University. Prior to this, he taught and researched in academic institutions and think-tanks in Lesotho, Uganda, the UK, and Canada.

Prior to joining the Open Society in South Africa, Dr Kristina Bentley was a Senior Research Specialist in the Democracy and Governance research programme of the Human Sciences Research Council. In 2001, she completed her PhD in the Department of Governance at the University of Manchester.

Extract from review by Patricia Daley (University of Oxford) in the journal African Affairs (Vol. 105 No. 418, January 2006):

"...it is important that the process is documented and fully recorded so that lessons can be learned for the future. ...The book is written with a South African audience in mind and involved consultation and interviews with some of the key actors in the peace process. The 15 brief chapters begin by considering the relevance of South Africa's role in the Burundi peace process; the authors conclude that 'democracy and development in South Africa are both inextricably linked to progress towards those goals throughout Africa as a whole' (p. 3). This is explored further by addressing the international context, the legal basis, and the UN and regional involvement in finding a solution to the Burundi conflict."

Extract from review by Emmanuel Rejois (UN Dialogue with the Global South Fellow, University of the Witwatersrand) in Politikon: South African Journal of Political Studies Vol. 32 No. 2 November 2005:

"Kristina A. Bentley and Roger Southall's An African Peace Process - Mandela, South Africa and Burundiis an important study for Burundi, for Africa but particularly for South African diplomacy. Although it is an account through South African lens, this is a thorough, balanced and judicious study of post-apartheid South Africa's first substantial involvement in African affairs away from its 'lebensraum'. ... At a time when South Africa has adopted an avowed peacemaker role on the continent, the release of An African Peace Process - Mandela, South Africa and Burundi could not be more timely and is an important work for both South African foreign policy-makers and scholars who will certainly find invaluable lessons from the Burundian conflict and its mediation to impart to South Africa's involvement in other important peace processes on the continent."

Extract from review by Filip Reyntjens (University of Antwerp) in Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 44 No. 3 2006, pp. 481–482:

"The authors state a modest aim: explaining South Africa's role in the Burundi peace process to a South African audience, which knows little about Burundi. I disagree with them when they say that their book 'is unlikely to satisfy regional specialists' ; to the contrary, it is a very welcome contribution to our understanding of a complex and lengthy process that has been largely left under-researched."

Click on the link below to read the review:

Journal Review

Business in Africa Online 04 November 2004