Question 2

International relations theories have developed over time and can help us understand through their

assumptions and propositions why the outbreak and conflict of civil wars have occurred. This essay

will explore how international relations theories including realism, constructivism, and liberalism

explain the onset of civil conflicts, and give us significant insight into the causes of civil wars. This

essay will also discuss the causes of war such as grievance and how it can explain how animosity

amongst groups can lead to conflict, and how one ethnic group may understand conflict as a

reaction to discriminatory action. The Rwandan civil war will be used as an example to illustrate the

three international relations theories and how they can explain civil war onset.

The Rwandan civil war was instigated by the death of the Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana,

from the dominant Hutu tribe in the country, and whose plane was shot down above Kigali airport

on 6 April 1994. It was speculated at the time that the current Rwandan President Paul Kagame, at
th

the time the leader of a Tutsi minority tribe rebel group, was responsible for the attack (BBC News,

2011). Within hours of the attack, violent events spread from the capital throughout the country

continuing for three months. In Rwanda, ethnic tension has existed since German and Belgian

colonial times, with the Tutsi minority favoured over the majority tribe the Hutus and given positions

of power. It was a war fought between the Rwandan Armed Forces representing the government

and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front representing the Tutsis from October 1990 to July 1994

(Cannon and Donelli, 2023). This ultimately led to the long-standing ethnic tension between the

Tutsi minority and the Hutu majority in Rwanda where mass genocide of Tutsis occurred.

Causes of intra-state war such as grievance can highlight how those discriminatory policies against a

particular group may lead to life inequalities. Grievance can be associated with feeling great sorrow,

being oppressed and wronged. These qualities become clear when taking into account the factors

that lead to civil war. One example is the situation in Rwanda, where Hutus were once subjected to

oppression by Tutsis under colonialism. After gaining governmental control, the Hutu ethnic group
started an ethnic cleaning campaign against the Tutsi minority. This instance demonstrates how grief

affected Rwanda’s civil war. Due to the ethnic differences, one group was oppressed by another,

which led to tension and grief that eventually burst into bloodshed (UKEssays, 2018). From this, it

could be argued that the 1959-1962 revolution where the Tutsi monarchy was replaced by a Hutu

led republic, forcing more than 336,000 Tutsis to seek refuge in neighbouring countries, was the

proximate cause of the Rwandan civil war as the war arose from a long running dispute between the

two ethnic groups (Sebahutu, 2023).

Realism is the idea that states operate in a world characterised by anarchy and are the primary

actors in international relations. This theory suggests that states can never be sure of other states’

intentions, a situation that can often lead to security dilemmas (Korab-Karpowicz, 2010). Due to the

competition for power inherent in international relations, states care deeply about securing relative

gains. Realism in international politics is also concerned with security and power as states act in

pursuit of their own national interests (Korab-Karpowicz, 2010). According to Hans J. Morgenthau,

often regarded as “the father of political realism, the balance of power in a multinational world is

like the law of gravity. You can argue against it but woe unto you if you disregard it and walk out of a

third story window” (Bleau, 2014). This suggests that states are constantly in competition for power

as a way to promote their own self-interests. War is a result of this struggle for power amongst

states and is ultimately inevitable. In the post-cold war era after the 1980s, civil wars and ethnic

conflict started to dominate. Realist theory showed that in the absence of central authority the

vulnerabilities of certain groups, and the significance of fast-moving shifts in the balance of power,

can explain why some societies are more inclined to break out in civil war (Walt, 2017). Using the

Rwandan civil war as a realist example, the outbreak of war happened due to the Hutu and Tutsi

ethnic groups having an interest in self-preservation (Spears, 2013). The Rwandan government

dominated by the Hutus saw the Tutsi majority as a threat to their power. This shows the realist

assumption that those in power prioritise their own security in line with perceived national interests

during ethnic competition within one state.

relations. Individuals have deep incentives to trade, cooperate, bargain and negotiate for joint gain.

Liberals support the idea that democratic peace and liberal institutionalism supports the growth of

international laws and institutions for cooperation and dispute resolution in international relations

(Rathburn, 2010). Liberals look for ways to prevent conflict and wars by promoting the idea of

cooperation among states through the establishment of international organisations. This is

contrasted with the realist assumption that states are mainly in conflict with each other, and

therefore finding peace can be a struggle. In civil wars, liberalism gives us the insight that liberal

democracies will generally not go to war as their citizens generally share the same values (Rathburn,

2010). The democratic peace theory can also be intertwined with liberalism as this theory highlights

that in democratic states civil war is rare (Mello, 2014). Immanuel Kant, a liberal and intellect on the

democratic peace theory, believed that citizens would decide against armed conflict as this would

risk their mutual welfare (Mello, 2014). Therefore, liberal democracies are likely to solve conflict

through negotiation rather than resorting to violence involving military force (Doyle). The reason

civil wars occur is due to a lack of typical liberalist state tendencies such as a democracy, protection

of human rights and cooperation with other states. In relation to the Rwandan civil war, liberalism

does not provide a substantive explanation to support the events that led up to the genocide. These

were characterised by a lack of international intervention and a failure to uphold the rights of an

ethnic minority group. However, there was some form of liberalisation during the conflict, for

example the Arusha Accords, signed in 1993 aimed to bring an end to the power imbalance and to

the civil war (Beloff and Lakin, 2019). However, the quick transition to form a democratic Rwandan

state without consultation with the Hutus exacerbated long-standing ethnic tensions. By not

intervening as peacekeepers in the civil war the international community failed to uphold liberal

principles. Between April and June 1994, it was estimated between 800,000 Rwandans were killed in

the space of 100 days, most of them being Tutsis (BBC News, 2011). This questions the capability and

desire of liberal democracies to prevent mass murder and to defend vulnerable ethnic groups.
The theory of constructivism is the assumption that elite individuals in society and the state are the

main actors in international relations. These interests are shaped by identities of actors, and they

can be moulded by numerous ideational factors like culture, religion, and beliefs (Lisinski, 2012).

Constructivist thinker Alexander Wendt says, “The key is the reclaim power and interest from

materialism by showing how their content and meaning are constituted by ideas and culture” (Bleau,

2014). This shows, he accepts that power and personal interests play a key role in state behaviour.

However, these concepts involve the creation of ideas and culture. This constructivist theory tells us

that war is socially constructed with norms of states that have developed over time and which shape

their perceptions of security and threat, influencing their decisions to engage in warfare. Civil war is

socially constructed within a state, and is influenced by factors such as socialisation, identity, and

persuasion (Checkel, 2011). Leading scholars in civil-war research have promoted the view that

identities are a cause of conflict. Identities can change over time, and this might reflect the choice to

go to war. In the case of the Rwandan civil war, constructivists argue that the war was based on

social constructs already in place and that the previous years of Belgian colonialism created the

ethnic divide between the Hutus and Tutsis (Spears, 2013). The Belgians gave preferential treatment

to the Tutsis, creating resentment amongst the Hutus, and contributing to a long history of ethnic

tension (Weir, 2015). According to constructivists these tensions only existed in the first place due to

the social hierarchy. Constructivism does not take into account the state as the main actor, but

instead the history and conflict between these ethnic groups, and which then resulted in ethnic

genocide.

Whilst all of these theories provide well thought out reasons why civil wars occur, there are some

drawbacks of these theoretical ideologies. Realism provides a correct analogy on why states

compete for power; however, it focuses less on how states or actors define that power and how

they aim to use it (Bleau, 2014). Critics of constructivism and liberalists argue that the theory

disregards the fact that international organisations only exist because states consider that they

will advance their position, individual or groups’ agenda (Bleau, 2014). Liberalism ignores the
concept of interdependence where one actor is reliant on another for certain reasons that are not

properly addressed by the interdependence framework. Therefore, this could narrow the

understanding in the context of civil war.

In conclusion, international theories such as realism, liberalism and constructivism can support the

explanation of conflict between states and can also give insight to civil war onset. It is also clear that

the role of grievance is a large factor for the occurrence of civil wars in relation to the Tutsi and Hutu

ethnic differences. Realism, as the leading theory in international relations, was mainly developed to

give insight to state behaviour in the international system, and its core values can be adjusted to

explain the dynamics in civil wars. Factors such as power, self-preservation, security and the balance

of power, can demonstrate why internal actors participate in civil wars. Liberalism focuses on

establishing peace amongst actors and opposes the idea of conflict. Factors of concern to liberal

states involve human rights, democratic governance and international cooperation, which link

together to promote social bonds between states and internal actors. However, the lack of liberal

intervention whenever domestic turmoil threatens peace, as shown in the Rwandan civil war,

demonstrates a lack of humanity according to this theory. Constructivism explains how historical

influences can affect various groups' reasoning for conflict and how identities socially construct civil

war between ethnic minorities within a nation. Therefore, the idea that the escalation of war in

Rwanda was driven by ethnic hostility is true from a constructivist perspective. However, gaining an

understanding of the previous colonial history leading to the conflict is also needed. Therefore, civil

war onset can be partially explained by these theoretical frameworks and an understanding of them,

allows scholars to search for beneficial strategies for future conflict avoidance and settlement in the

international arena.
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