The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa
Jason Stearns
overview
At the heart of Africa is Congo, a country the size of Western Europe, bordering nine other nations, that since 1996 has been wracked by a brutal and unstaunchable war in which millions have died. And yet, despite its epic proportions, it has received little sustained media attention. In this deeply reported book, Jason Stearns vividly tells the story of this misunderstood conflict through the experiences of those who engineered and perpetrated it. He depicts village pastors who survived massacres, the child soldier assassin of President Kabila, a female Hutu activist who relives the hunting and methodical extermination of fellow refugees, and key architects of the war that became as great a disaster asand was a direct consequence ofthe genocide in neighboring Rwanda. Through their stories, he tries to understand why such mass violence made sense, and why stability has been so elusive. Through their voices, and an astonishing wealth of knowledge and research, Stearns chronicles the political, social, and moral decay of the Congolese State.
contents
Understanding the violence
Prewar
The legacy of genocide ; Aiding and abetting ; A country in ruins ; Six days ; Onion layers ; Mzee
The first war
Many wars in one ; The dominoes fall ; A thousand miles through the jungle ; This is how you fight ; A wounded leopard ; The King is Dead, long live the King
The second war
One war too many ; The rebel professor ; The rebel start-up ; Cain and Abel ; Sorcerers' apprentices ; The assassination of Mzee ; Paying for the war
Neither war nor peace
The bearer of eggs
The Congo, on its own terms.
