The Cultural Geography of Insecurity in the African Great Lakes Region: Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The study examined the cultural geography of insecurity in the Great Lakes region of Africa. It focused on the Hutu and Tutsi of this cultural belt in order to ascertain the extent to which their socio-political relationship contributes to shape calculations of regional security. The study was concerned with the following question: Why has extreme violence continued to persist in the cultural geography of the Hutu and Tutsi?;In answering this research question, the study utilized qualitative methodological approaches. The researcher used interviews and participatory observation techniques in an effort to capture the perceptions of the groups of this cultural belt.;An analysis of these interpretations found in this cultural region remains an entrenchment of explosive extremist ideology that transcends borders. The ideology is too strong for weak states to withstand or keep in check. Without institutional forms of moderation, the ideology is able to move away from the margins to the center where state collapse takes place. In this cultural belt, this ideology finds fertile ground in the prevalence of structural poverty, weak institutions, the abundance of natural resources, as well as extremely low levels of education. These factors help then to shape the development of political ethnicity.;The study concluded that the strengthening of states is significant in ensuring that the conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi is resolved. Reconciliation will be genuine only when state institutions act as moderators of this reconciliation. This is how ethnic extremism and its attendant ideologies will be rejected, losing appeal as more people have trust in the institutions.;Short of this, those with whom these groups share the physical and political geography and those in territorial proximity will suffer a similar fate: radicalization and extremism. These groups will also gradually seek self-defense measures as a reliable strategy for group preservation. The entrenchment of ideology gives the impression that this is the game, where groups have to either play along or risk physical elimination.