Thomas Turner 
Congo 

The Democratic Republic of Congo has become one of the world’s
bloodiest hot spots. 2003 saw the end of a five-year war in which
millions lost their lives – one of the deadliest conflicts since
World War II. Despite recent peace agreements and democratic
elections, the country is still plagued by army and militia
violence. Congo remains deeply troubled, since the deep-rooted
causes of conflict have not been adequately addressed.

The conflict in the DRC has divided opinion; some call it a
civil war, or a war of aggression by the country’s neighbours;
others a continuation of Rwanda’s Hutu-Tutsi conflict on Congolose
soil, and a war of partition and pillage. The prevalence of rape
and sexual violence has led some analysts to mark it out as a
hidden ‘war against women’. Tom Turner’s insightful book
reveals how each of these descriptions accurately captures the
separate elements of this complex and multidimensional political
conflict. In exploring each of these contributory factors, he shows
how current attempts to rebuild the shattered state and society of
DRC are doomed to fail. So long as the full complexity of the Congo
crisis is not taken into account and a clear consensus as to its
precise dimensions reached, the future looks bleak. The DRC, he
argues, will likely remain a global hot spot for some time to
come.

Table of Content

Maps vi

Abbreviations vii

Preface xii

Author’s Note xvi

Introduction: Congo, a Perennial Hot Spot 1

1 Congo as a Playing Field 15

2 African Players on the Congo Field 46

3 Identity as a Driver of Conflict 74

4 Congo’s War Against Women 120

5 Congo’s ‘Resource Curse’ 147

6 The Responsibility to Protect 179

Notes 205

Bibliography 226

Index 230

About the author

Thomas Turner is a DRC country specialist for Amnesty International USA and author of The Congo Wars.