The Curse of Tribe? Or something else..

Ben Simon writes in Prospect:

Tribe is certainly an overused explanation for conflicts in Africa, and to reduce the violence in eastern Congo to a replay of Rwanda's Hutu-Tutsi nightmare is a mistake. (When serious fighting broke out at the end of October, newscasters from major networks, including the BBC, Al Jazeera and CNN, took to labelling Nkunda’s men as “Tutsi rebels,” even though there are many Hutus among his ranks. One of the most prominent politicians to defect to his side in recent weeks, the former mayor of Goma Francois Gacaba, is a Hutu, as are a considerable number of rebel troops serving on the frontline.)
However, those who try to dismiss the importance of tribe also miss the point. There are countless militia groups roaming the province pursuing their own tribal agendas. The Mai Mai, nominally backed by the government, insist that because many of Nkunda’s soldiers are Tutsi, they “aren’t really Congolese,” and are deeply suspicious of their ties to Rwanda. And while Nkunda's men never describe themselves as Tutsi defenders or Tutsi freedom fighters, they single out tribe, or more precisely, an end to the tribalism that still dominates the region, as their signature issue...[continue reading]