Rwandan Genocide: The United States, France and the Failure of the United Nations Security Council. Between April and July 1994, approximately one million people were killed in Rwanda. There are three ethnic groups in Rwanda: Hutu, Tutsi and Twa aborigines. The genocide occurred between two different groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi. The Hutu made up nearly 85% of the population, while the Tutsi minority made up about 14% and the Twa people made up the remaining 1%. The Republic of Rwanda, like most African nations, has a history of colonization by several European countries with different and conflicting ideas of governance and how a colony should be developed and used. It can be argued that many of the problems that occur in all African nations stem from previous colonization and subsequent exploitation. “A Brief History” UN.org npnd Web. 16 April 2014. Although all countries on the United Nations Security Council expressed outrage and horror once it was accepted and confirmed that a genocide was occurring in Rwanda, there was no significant intervention or assistance from the international community. Daily reports of mass killings and rapes came from Rwanda, and although the Security Council met every day and discussed possible options, it seemed clear that all permanent members were reluctant to intervene. After a failed intervention in Somalia no country was very eager to intervene in another African nation. The UN Security Council watched a genocide unfold in Rwanda with very little intervention and aid. The Rwandan genocide will be remembered as one of the international community's greatest failures to intervene in a situation that could have been stopped using potentially very... half of paper... all of its own personal agendas. Personal agendas will perhaps always prevail over UN nation-building, but the more the UN is aware of this, perhaps the more it will be able to use it in some way to force cooperation in the Security Council. Rwanda will be remembered as one of the greatest failures of the United Nations Security Council. The international community has learned many lessons from the Rwandan genocide and should feel some guilt for not stopping it. Most of Africa was colonized at some point in time and for these reasons many of these countries are riddled with ethnic and political conflict. It is up to the world's most developed countries to monitor and stop crimes against humanity. All these lessons learned are not important, however, if the international community fails to overcome personal ambitions and politics and move towards more cooperative actions.