Name: Guo Jiankang Student ID：S07678
Research paper supervisor:Dr.Seku Conde
Minzu University of China
2007-2008 Academic Year

Introduction
Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a small country in the Great Lakes region of Africa, landlocked between Tanzania to the East and South, the Democratic Republic of Congo to the west, and the Rwanda to the North. The country surface area is 27,840 square kilometers, which presumably raised 6 million people. Many people prefer to call Burundi as the heart of Africa because of its geographic location and its special culture. To give an example, Burundians are very passionate at dancing and playing drum. However, like many other African countries, Burundi has come through extraordinary hard time.  Before the arrival of European colonialists, Burundi had been a strong, well organized kingdom for centuries. The country comprised of three primary groups: Tutsi, Hutu, and Twa.  The Twa group consisted of potters, hunters and entertainers, the Tutsi group mainly cow headers, the Hutu mostly cultivators. In fact, there is a fourth group named Ganwa, which often considered as the subgroup of Tutsi.  The Ganwa group was made up of members of the royal family and was perceived to be separate and above other groups (In the Wake of War).  According to Ndayizigiye, the Ganwa group enjoyed the highest status, and the Twa the lowest. How Tutsi and Hutu related was no clear, but actually the history of their relationship is pretty much politicized (P.1).  The civil war broke up because of the contention for power between the Tutsi and the Hutu group. What Burundi civil war brought to people was painful. There were approximately 200,000 person has been killed in ethnic violence and the civil war caused severe economic disruption and dislocation (Burundi Civil War). In this paper, the internal and external causes of Burundi conflict will be thoroughly explained and the resolution about Burundi conflict by be carefully examined through analyzing the policy Burundi has changed, the support from Africa and other countries. 
 
The cause of the civil war
The Burundi civil war was not erupted without potential reasons. One of the biggest factors that induced the civil war was the colonization. What European colonists firstly brought to Burundi was a culture: a culture of “racial” differentiation, prevalent in the first half of the 20th century in Europe.  It considered the Tutsi group (about 18 percent of the population) as the ‘racially superior’ dominant group, and the Hutu (about 80 percent of the population) as ‘racially’ bound to be servants of the Tutsi (In the Wake of War). The European culture influenced the traditional relationship between each group negatively. 
Besides the cultural aggression, the force of changing social institution considered as another reason of causing Burundi conflict. As Ndayizigiye states, the conference of la Baule in France requested the African military regimes to democratize their social system, including their economic and political situations (P.2).  France conditioned its assistance through the democratic process of those African countries.  In addition, the fall of Berlin Wall indicated the progressive erosion of the Union of the Social Soviet Republics support toward African military regimes.  Obviously, African countries had no power to against Europeans. Consequently, they had no choice except embracing the democratic process. Burundi did not escape its fate and eventually they started to democratize its institution in 1991 (P.2).
The democratic process brought the actual crisis in Burundi’s history.  Although the society was not completely free of internal disputes for powers before the interference of European colonists, the four groups got along. They share common culture, a common language, the similar values and taboos, as well as the same religion (In the Wake of War). However, the balanceable relationship between each group changed.  After independence in 1961, the division between the Tutsi and Hutu group became more clearly and intensely.  The Tutsi group wanted to take the control of the state while the Hutu would not gave up their right on pursuing military and political power (In the Wake of War).  After 1991, the fighting emphases between two groups altered.  The Hutu gradually demand for democratic elections while the Tutsi fight to maintain the status quo.  After two years contention, Burundi conducted its first presidential and legislative election in the summer 1993.  Burundians seemed poised to enter a new stage when they chose a Hutu head, Ndadaye Melchior, to be the president.  As Ndayzigiye says, “He incarnated the aspirations and hopes of the Hutu ethnic groups to assume the management of the state affairs from which they had been excluded for centuries” (P.2). While the Hutu group controlled the power of the state, the Tutsi felt deeply humiliated by the victory of the Hutu.  The democratic reforms broke the status quo and threatened the entrenched political and economic interests.  As a result, the colonization accelerated the division between the two main groups and led the ethic conflict. 
According to Ndayzigiye, besides the reason of colonization, Burundi conflict has its own long-term causes: the Burundi social structure and the political organization and economic property control (P.3).  Burundi was comprised by different groups and each group has its own needs.  For example, as cattle keepers, the Tutsi fought with the Hutu and Twa over food and land for their cattle pastures.  The disputes for resources and the differentiation were determined that the decision-making was crucial to Burundi communities.  Consequently, the conflicts between each group were inevitably. 
Secondly, Burundi had been keeping a homogeneous society for very long time. The ruling class only took the very tiny part of the whole population.  Aristocrats employed large amount of retainers.  Those retainers worked for aristocrats and functioned as middleman between the upper class and the low class.   Their job included collecting tax from peasants, working in military, skilled artisans who made luxury goods for nobles, and many other social works.  While aristocrats gained a large number of resources, the peasants faced the extreme impoverishment and eventually those peasants lost their land and cattle.  The result of the tremendous differences between aristocrats and peasants ultimately became one of the reasons that caused the Burundi conflict.  Burundi conflict happened under the negative influence of colonization and its own two fundamental inner causes.  
 
Domestic resolution
In order to stop the conflict, Burundi needed to have some preconditions, including re-establishing authority of the state, restoring public order, and reconstruction of a Burundi Nation.  The structure of Burundi should not keep the same as before, which is only beneficial for a few upper class people.   On the other hand, the structure of the state should functioning to ensure that its traditional prerogatives to protect the citizens and their properties (Gahama, P.9).  In reality and practice, the local admission should be reactivated and use their authority to seek cohesion and solidarity among the communities.  Secondly, so as there is war and violence appear in the country, all the Burundi communities should work together for a collective rejection of violence.  By doing so, it would decrease the difficulty that Burundi may encounter through the process of reconstruction and reconciliation. Also, since Burundi was comprised by four different groups and used a hierarchical social system, Burundians often lack the sense of belonging.  According to Gahama, “Burundese at least at the political level have preached and given privilege to ethnicity at the detriment of the Burundi citizenship” (P.10).  Burundi achieved some of the precondition; at least, some of the precondition had been realized by Burundians.
The Burundi conflict has been solved through changing system of different institutions.  For instance, they establish “institution of a new political, economic, social and judicial order, in the context of a new constitution inspired by Burundian realities and founded on the values of justice, the rule of law, democracy, good governance, pluralism, respect for the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual, unity, solidarity, equality between women and men, mutual understanding and tolerance among the various political and ethnic components of the Burundian people”(United States Institute of Peace).  In order to make society steady, the government of the Republic of Burundi promoted human rights.  It aimed at three objectives, such as promoting the rights of people through education, protecting and defending the rights of individual by monitoring their situation, eradicating and preventing genocide (Gahama, p.10).  Genocide may be controlled if the government establishes the law of banning genocide.  In reality, there were two leagues simultaneously registered in February 1991: the ITEKA league and SONERA league.  These two leagues act on their own or in collaboration with other people or institution working against injustice, illegality, arbitrariness, impunity, intolerance, and all forms of discrimination.  These two groups both work for the same purpose, which is protecting Burundi people and making society peaceful.  Unfortunately, many Burundian believed that the ITEKA league belonged to the Hutu community and the SONERA league is very close to the Tutsi community (p.11).  The division between ethical groups has already existed for too long.  Therefore, crossing over the barrier of differences between each group is extremely hard for Burundian.  However, Burundi conflict can be view as an ethical conflict in [...]

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