The collapse of Zaïre

Implosion, Revolution or External Sabotage

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4816865
AutoresMel Mcnulty (Nottingham Trent University, autor de correspondencia)
Año1999
Volumen37
Número1
Páginas53-82
Fecha de publicación1999-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Journal of Modern African Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0022-278X • E-ISSN: 1469-7777
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0022278x99002979
OpenAlexW2162963563
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas21
Referencias citadas4

The collapse of Mobutu's Zaïre in 1996/97 was the result of an unprecedented correspondence of domestic, regional and international interests. The Zaïrean state was established and sustained during the Cold War with Western support as a bulwark against communism and source of raw materials. It maintained itself after the Cold War by playing on external fears of state collapse and by supporting French regional interests. By 1996, with the failure of French credibility and US refusal to intervene, it had no reliable external protector. Internal support was non-existent, and an opposition alliance was constructed under Kabila's leadership. Regional states, notably Rwanda and Angola, intervened to protect their own security. Though successful, this regional alliance itself proved to be unstable, leading to a recurrence of war in 1998

Alliance · Cold war · Communism · Credibility · Development economics · Economics · Opposition (politics) · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Witness · African history and culture analysis · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · Law · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts