Inclusion amid fragmentation. Mai-Mai proliferation in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Studying the evolution and aftermath of the Second Congo War (1998–2003) – also known as ‘Africa’s First World War’– is an exercise in analytical complexity. The war in the Democratic Republic of Congo grew from a mass of overlapping and interlocking conflicts on different scales – from local, to national, the Great Lakes Region and beyond. It drew in a large number of heterogeneous political and military actors, including government forces and rebel groups from about half a dozen countries, large-scale Congolese but often foreign-backed politicomilitary movements, and a host of smaller-scale armed groups.