Like children’s fairy tales, foreign policy myths are created, told and retold for a purpose.
“The Boy Who Cried Wolf” imparts a life lesson while entertaining your five year-old niece. Unfortunately foreign policy myths are seldom so benign.
On October 1, 2014, a remarkable event occurred in Britain. The British Broadcasting Corporation’s BBC 2’s This World telecast Rwanda’s Untold Story, a documentary produced by Jane Corbin and John Conroy that offered a critical view of Rwandan President Paul Kagame and of his and the British and U.S.
The Rwandan genocide — think you know the story? Deep-seated ethic enmity erupted in a 100-day genocidal rampage by Hutus killing Tutsis, which was only stopped by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). A noble Canadian general tried to end the bloodletting but a dysfunctional UN refused resources. Washington was caught off guard by the slaughter, but it has apologized for failing to intervene and has committed to never again avoid its responsibility to protect.
In Rwanda and the New Scramble for Africa, Robin Philpot demolishes this version of history.
