During my interview with Dr. Paul Williams, we discussed the causes of ethnic tensions and challenges of post-conflict peacebuilding. He mentioned that ethnic conflict alone does not lead to violence, but power politics, the ability to influence and shape the behaviors of the people, often leads to ethnic violence. In addition, when countries are colonized, the colonizers tend to favor minority groups to ensure that no revolutions occur, rather than creating ethnic tensions to distract from the colonizing country taking control of the government. This leads to a history of ethnic conflicts, which is further fueled by limited resources and political elites taking control of the power. When conflict erupts, ethnicity is often blamed as the primary problem; however, it is a surface-level explanation for deeper political and economic struggles. 

 

In addition, Dr. Williams mentioned the challenges Rwanda faces post-genocide due to the authoritarian government structure. While 30 years of peace in the country is seen as an extremely positive sign, there may be some long-term instability due to the lack of political openness. Dr. Williams explained that the authoritarian government was successful in promoting economic growth and stability, peace nationwide, and preventing another large-scale ethnic violence. He emphasized that this government structure may only be effective in the short run because it allows the government to tightly control the public narratives surrounding ethnicity and reconciliation. Unsolved grievances between the ethnic groups may create challenges in the future if citizens can’t openly discuss the disagreements or fully participate in the political situation. 

 

Dr. Williams also explained that there is no single “one size fits all” model for peacebuilding that can be applied to every single ethnic conflict. Effective peacebuilding focuses on reconciliation, accountability, and repairing the damage. He emphasized that peacebuilding can occur at different levels, including the individual, local/community, state, and international levels. At the individual level, people focus on reconciliation to go back to their former lifestyle pre-conflict. On an international level, institutions play a major role in providing relief right after violence ends or contribute to the long-term peacebuilding process. However, as peacebuilding has many levels, it could succeed in one and fail in the other, which makes conflict resolution extremely complex.