The logic of violent conflicts in DR Congo : a nested-analysis approach to the understanding of civil war in Sub-Saharan Africa

Violent conflicts have hampered Congo’s development in several ways. Some of the deadliest and longest-running wars in post-colonial Africa happened in Congo. Like many others in sub-Saharan Africa, Congo’s civil wars are often misdiagnosed as outcomes of ethnic differences and competition for resources. This study challenges the conventional interpretation of civil wars in sub-Saharan Africa, using a mixed-method approach that nests case-study analysis within cross-country econometric analysis. The case-study analysis, based on cases of violent conflicts in Congo, considers the historical and political dimensions of Congo’s war cycles. The case studies show that the understanding of civil wars in sub-Saharan Africa requires more than simply citing ethnic differences and resource greed. Crucial to the explanation of the Congolese civil wars is the legacy of colonial rule. The case-study analysis indicates that state fragility and politics of ethnicity (characterized by patterns of elite power struggles) are at the roots of Congo’s intractable civil wars. The reasons for the wars in Congo often changed from political to resource or ethnic during the war processes. The analysis identified that ethnicity and mineral resources were fundamental elements in shaping the characteristics of the wars in Congo. Ethnicity mainly served as a pool for rebel mobilization, while mineral resource was both a sustaining element and a source of economic motivation for fighters. The findings from the case-study analysis were used to generate a set of hypotheses that were tested using the econometric analysis. The econometric analysis confirmed that the incidence of civil war in sub-Saharan Africa increases as the number and the size of politically excluded groups enlarge. The parts of the econometric analysis that looked at how ethnicity, mineral resources, among other variables, influence the characteristics of sub-Saharan Africa’s civil wars – in terms of intensity and geographical spread – also yielded some interesting results that echo Congo’s civil war experience.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Economics (UMKC)

Grantor

University of Missouri--Kansas City

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Twumasi, Richard

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Forstater, Mathew, 1961-

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10355/80944

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mospace.umsystem.edu:10355/80944