ABSTRACT

Heritage, a practice shot through with political forces, is mobilized by states within their international relationships through methods such as heritage diplomacy. Focusing on the connections between Rwanda and Germany, this article traces how heritage serves as a technique of foreign relations for the Rwandan state. The uses of heritage are shaped by the state’s higher-level political orientations, especially the project of agaciro, which pursues an agenda of increased sovereignty for Rwanda in relation to the rest of the world. This conditions how ‘shared heritage’ and heritage repatriation contribute to establishing strategic alliances and decolonizing, making heritage part of a suite of tools used to advantageously reposition the country in the international arena. The article deepens our understanding of the Rwandan state’s governing techniques and examines heritage’s role as a mediator of international relationships, even for less-powerful nations whose agency is sometimes neglected in discussions of heritage diplomacy.

摘要

遗产是一种政治力量贯穿的实践，国家在其国际关系中通过遗产外交等方式动员起来。本文着眼于卢旺达和德国之间的联系，追溯遗产如何作为卢旺达国家对外关系的一种技巧。遗产的利用受到国家更高层次的政治取向的影响，尤其是agaciro项目，其追求的议程是增加卢旺达相对于世界其他地区的主权。这决定了“共享遗产”和遗产归还如何有助于建立战略联盟和非殖民化，使遗产成为一套工具的一部分，用于在国际舞台上有利地重新定位国家。这篇文章加深了我们对卢旺达国家治理技术的理解，并考察了遗产作为国际关系调解人的作用，即使对于那些在遗产外交讨论中有时被忽视的弱国也是如此。