Analysing post-transition violence in Burundi
The current crisis in Burundi should be viewed in the context of the cyclical repression and violence that have plagued the country since independence.
The current crisis has turned out to be the most serious since the end of the transition, but its evolution is by no means unique in Burundian history, either in the scale of the violence or the mode of repression.
In fact, since the end of the country’s political transition, Burundi’s political and security trajectory has continued to exhibit the cyclical patterns of repression and political violence that have plagued the country since independence.
About the authors
Yolande Bouka is a research associate for the ISS Conflict Prevention and Risk Analysis Division, specialising in the Great lakes Region. She is a scholar in comparative politics and brings expertise on comparative foreign policy and regional dimensions of conflicts. She completed her PhD at the School of International Service at the American University in Washington, DC, specialising in comparative and regional studies, and international peace and conflict resolution. In 2010, she was awarded a Dissertation Fellowship from the American Association of University Women and is a lecturer for the American University Study Abroad programme in Nairobi, Kenya.
Stephanie Wolters is the head of the ISS’ Conflict Prevention and Risk Analysis Division. She has over 20 years of experience as a journalist, researcher and political analyst in Africa, and the Great lakes in particular. She specialises in political and economic research in Africa, focusing on conflict zones, post- conflict reconstruction, governance and electoral processes in conflict zones. Stephanie has extensive expertise on the Democratic Republic of Congo, and non-state armed groups in Eastern DRC and the region.
