Alex Veit, Intervention as Indirect Rule: Civil War and Statebuilding in the Democratic Republic of Congo

摘要

On 20 December 2011, Joseph Kabila was sworn in for his second term as elected president of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The electoral process has been disorderly and violent, as is much of political life in Congo. Given the recent conflicts that have rocked Congo, the violence is perhaps not surprising, except that it took place when, for many foreign observers, the outcome of the elections had been a foregone conclusion. Veit's book, Intervention as Indirect Rule, is not primarily concerned with the politics of Kinshasa, but this second set of contested elections since the formal cessation of hostilities throws up something of an anomaly: objections raised by northern donors about the particularities of the election process notwithstanding, Kabila is widely viewed in Congo as the donors' choice.