The Role of External Actors in Peace-Building and Democratization in Africa: A Comparative Study of Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
Nizigiyimana Désiré Louis

Abstract
External actors play various roles in the process of democratization in many African countries. In this paper, I evaluate and discuss various contributions that external actors made in promoting peace-building and democratization processes in three countries, namely, Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). I take peace-building and democratization as a unitary model of democratic anchoring in the three countries and examine the conditions and mechanisms for promoting peace and democratization in post-conflict societies. I then argue that the model of democratization which starts with peace-building involves many parameters which contribute to conditions of success, and that this model of democratization remains an area which is largely open to further scholarly exploration.

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