Verweijen, Judith (2017) Pompier-pyromanocracy. Mbusa Nyamwisi and the DR Congo’s inflammable post-settlement political order. In: Themnér, Anders (ed.) Warlord democrats in Africa: ex-military leaders and electoral politics. Zed Books, pp. 41-67. ISBN 9781783602483
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Abstract
This chapter analyzes how the electoral and wider political inclusion of ex-belligerents in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has contributed to the militarization of its political order in the east. By exploring the post-settlement trajectory of one particular politico-military entrepreneur, Antipas Mbusa Nyamwisi, it shows how this inclusion has contributed to ongoing violence. Furthermore, it argues that in comparison to the pre-war order, politico-military entrepreneurs have become more numerous, more independent of the political center, and more active also at lower levels of the power pyramid. As such, the post-settlement order seems to be characterized by a type of “democratization” of the strategy of the pompier-pyromane. This democratization unleashes a dynamic that often acquires a momentum of its own, due to the multiplicity of the involved factions and their complex and ever-changing alliances. As a result, not everyone who divides is still able to rule, and not everyone who ignites is still able to extinguish.
Item Type: | Book Section |
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Schools and Departments: | School of Global Studies > International Development |
Research Centres and Groups: | Sussex Centre for Conflict and Security Research |
Related URLs: | |
Depositing User: | Judith Verweijen |
Date Deposited: | 25 Feb 2019 14:56 |
Last Modified: | 29 Mar 2019 14:29 |
URI: | http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/82147 |
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