About Gérard Prunier
Born 1942. Gérard Prunier is a French and Canadian historian and research fellow.
Gérard Prunier (born 14 October 1942 in Paris ) is a French academic, historian, and consultant. He specializes in African history and affairs —particularly the Horn of Africa and the African Great Lakes regions.
Biography Prunier received a PhD in African History in 1981 from the University of Paris, spending a year at Harvard University and a stay in Caracas, Venezuela. In 1984, he joined the CNRS scientific institution in Paris as a researcher. He later also became Director of the French Centre for Ethiopian Studies in Addis Ababa.
Prunier has published over 120 articles and five books. He is fluent in his native French, as well as English and Spanish. He also has good knowledge of Italian and German, and a basic knowledge of Juba Arabic (South Sudanese colloquial Arabic) and Swahili.
Published works Books Les Ethnies ont une histoire (ed. with ), Paris : Karthala, 1989, L'Ouganda et la question indienne : 1896-1972, Paris : Editions Recherche sur les civilisations, 1990 The Rwanda Crisis: History of a Genocide, Columbia University Press, 1995, Le Kenya contemporain, (ed. with François Grignon), Paris : Karthala & Nairobi : IFRA, 1998, Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide, Cornell University Press, 2005, L'Éthiopie contemporaine (director), CFEE-Karthala, Addis Abeba and Paris, 2007, with Ficquet, Éloi. Understanding contemporary Ethiopia, L.: Oxford University Press, 2015 — english edition From Genocide to Continental War: The 'Congolese' Conflict and the Crisis of Contemporary Africa, C. Hurst & Co., 2009, Published in the US as Africa’s World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of Continental Catastrophe, Oxford University Press, 2009, Urgence Darfour with Morad El Hattab (direction), André Glucksmann, Bernard Kouchner, Bernard-Henri Lévy, , , Rossin Richard, Philippe Val, Paris: Des idées & des hommes, 2007 The Country That Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland — New York: Oxford University Press, 2021 Colonialism Devours Itself: The Waning of Françafrique — Hurst Publishers, 2024,
Articles "Burundi: A Manageable Crisis?", WRITENET (UK), October 1994 "Sudan’s regional war", Le Monde diplomatique, February 1997 "Rwanda: the Social, Political and Economic Situation", WRITENET (UK), June 1997 "Somaliland, a forgotten country", Le Monde diplomatique, October 1997 "Uganda, nearly a miracle", Le Monde diplomatique, February 1998 "Somalia re-invents itself", Le Monde diplomatique, April 2000 "Sudan: irreconcilable differences, Le Monde diplomatique, December 2002 "Did Somebody Say Genocide?: Gérard Prunier on Darfur", Harper's Magazine, August 2006 "Darfur's Sudan problem", OpenDemocracy.net, 15 September 2006 The Ethio-Eritrean Conflict: An Essay in Interpretation Armed Movements in Sudan, Chad, CAR, Somalia Eritrea and Ethiopia Somalia: Civil War, Intervention and Withdrawal 1990 - 1995 From Fatigues to Three-Piece Suits: East African Guerrillas in Power Why did South Sudan blow up in December 2013 and what is likely to happen as a result?
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Important facts
People in Gérard Prunier's life
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Frequently asked questions
Who is Gérard Prunier?
French academic
When was Gérard Prunier born?
Gérard Prunier was born on 14 October 1942 in Neuilly-sur-Seine.
What is Gérard Prunier's occupation?
Gérard Prunier is a historian and research fellow.
What nationality is Gérard Prunier?
Gérard Prunier is French and Canadian.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Gérard Prunier. https://biography.guide/gerard-prunier/
MLA: "Gérard Prunier." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/gerard-prunier/.
Chicago: "Gérard Prunier." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/gerard-prunier/.
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