Real Questions

According to today’s New York Times’ article “Rwanda Stirs Deadly Brews of Trouble in Congo,” Rwanda’s government could be militarily backing the rebel group in Congo, led by Laurent Nkunda. Supposedly, the Tutsi-dominated government in Rwanda is ignoring country boundaries to aid fellow Tutsis in the rebel movement, financially and verbally motivating Rwandan soldiers to engage in combat.
As the article points out, the conflict highlights the tensions faced by political scientists to sort through the causes of intra-state conflict inflicted by rebellion movements and civil war. Rwanda is commonly associated with the concept of ethnicity. While, with in-depth analysis of Rwanda’s history, one can make a strong case for the socially-constructed nature of the main ethnic groups within the country, ethnicity has long been determined by commentators and politicians to be the driving factor of the Rwandan genocide. It is interesting, therefore, that the article mentions several references to the possible ethnic nature of Rwanda’s intervention in the Congo conflict. The journalist also presents the possibility that the aid is fueled by desires for natural resource control.
I think that the intrastate conflict within the Congo is enabled by a multiplicity of factors, and that it is impossible and perhaps unnecessary or even harmful to define one as the only or most important cause. Outside pressure from Rwanda, longstanding tensions between defined Tutsi and Hutu refugees and/or domestic populations, and natural resources all play a part and must be acknowledged for peace-making strategies. Ultimately, however, why are these tensions and identities specifically being called upon in determining the factors of rebellion? How are they being manipulated by those in control to sustain their power and intentions? These are the real questions that need to be pondered and, if possible, addressed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/world/africa/04congo.html?_r=1&em