Congo, Democratic Republic of: Section 3 - Analysis

摘要

The military posture of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is shaped by a history of ongoing conflict. For nearly two decades, from the 1960s through late 1970s, the DRC engaged in a series of low-intensity conflicts with other African nations by supporting proxy forces. In the following decades until 2002, the type of secessionist and proxy forces long supported by the DRC became a source of domestic instability. As secessionist and insurgent forces continually increased their pervasiveness throughout the eastern portion of the country, the central government in Kinshasa began to lose authority over the country. The resulting volatility provided a haven for political separatist and tribal militias from other nations in the Great Lakes region, notably Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. In turn, these nations repeatedly invaded eastern DRC over the course of late 1980s through 2002, under the auspices of securing their borders from the insurgent forces operating in the DRC. These invasions proved to be severely debilitating to the DRC in terms of governance and its long-term political and economic prospects.