This collection comprises an introduction and eight individual essays, the first four taking Rwanda as their main focus, and the latter concentrating on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC.) The authors stress the importance of complexity in characterising, and engaging with, the region's conflicts, political power struggles (Vandeginste & Huyse), and relations with the international system and global economy. Lemarchand, Reyntjens and Kennes provide much-needed contributions to current debates on DRC and Rwanda, emphasising the need to escape the language of ‘exceptionalism’ which often takes the place of rigorous political analysis regarding this region. The collection can in this light be seen as a call to apply analytical tools such as those of political economy, when considering how the global project of democratisation and ‘good governance’ has created crises and opportunities for actors in the region (Herdt & Tshimanga on Kinshasa). In doing so, a clearer picture emerges of the linkages between the Rwandan genocide, its domestic and regional consequences (Reyntjens), conflicts within DRC (Mararo), internationally driven democratisation programmes, and the political economy of the region's conflicts (Marysse). The collection highlights the need for all parties engaged in encouraging democracy, good governance and economic development in the Great Lakes to adopt an explicitly regional and holistic approach, whether regarding pro-poor development strategies which may rely on rebuilding frayed Rwanda–DRC relations (Marysse & Ansom), or in resolving conflicts within DRC that are intricately linked to relations between neighbouring states (Mararo).

To take one essay in particular, Reyntjens' study of the political path of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) ‘from genocide to dictatorship’ may strike some readers as an extremely negative appraisal of the RPF, particularly as Rwanda has been internationally praised for rapid development progress and relative peace and security. This critical view is due to Reyntjens' contention that accounts of the considerable achievements of the RPF abound, and therefore only an account ‘mainly concerned with the shortcomings of the present regime’ can provide a suitable counter-point. In many ways this characterises the approach of the collection as a whole – keen to explore new directions and engender new debates. Some suggestions are controversial, particularly Vandginste & Huyse's call for consideration of alternative forms of political organisation, such as consociational democracy in Rwanda, challenging orthodoxies of global liberal governance. Others are concerned with challenging accounts of the Great Lakes which have sustained a sense of international impotence regarding events in the region. The legacy of genocide in the Great Lakes has precluded much critical analysis of Rwanda's role at ‘The Eye of the Storm’, whilst the complexity of conflicts in the DRC has made timely analysis a difficult task. The most valuable contribution of this collection is therefore in tackling what Marysse terms ‘demobilising myths’ through focusing on contentious and little-explored aspects of events in the region. In doing so, the authors enhance our understanding of both the nature of politics and political economy in the Great Lakes, and of the responses of people, states and elites to external pressures for democratisation.