Population Overhang and the Great Lakes Crisis : Rwanda and her Neighbours - Research

The Great Lakes crisis is among the key issues generating empirical and theoretical controversy in contemporary African politics and international relations. More important is that despite the depth of facts and figures on the demographic history of the region, not even the key studies on the crisis made any attempt to assess the relationship or otherwise between the scene and the rapidly increasing population in the area that has made Rwanda one of the most densely populated African states. The present study is a response to this lacuna. The work employs the empirical methods of history and relies on document analysis of secondary sources. The study moves from the premise that originally population explosion constituted the bedrock of the crisis. But as events took new dimensions, other secondary factors crept in. Therefore, there is a need for both present and future focus to give due attention to the demographic question in policy and strategic planning.