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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The Privatisation and Criminalisation of Public Space in the Geopolitics of the Great Lakes Region
Author:Reyntjens, FilipISNI
Year:2005
Periodical:Journal of Modern African Studies
Volume:43
Issue:4
Period:December
Pages:587-607
Language:English
Geographic terms:Great Lakes region
Congo (Democratic Republic of)
Subjects:civil wars
State collapse
international conflicts
Inter-African Relations
Politics and Government
international relations
Law, Human Rights and Violence
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/3876320
Abstract:The Great Lakes region has been in profound turmoil for the past 15 years. Through the game of shifting alliances, and because of geographic proximity in an area with porous borders, conflicts have tended to merge, thus giving rise to a huge zone of instability. There is a clear though convoluted line from the small-scale invasion of Rwanda by the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) in October 1990 to the second Congo war, which started in August 1998. Conflicts have been compounded by the export of war to neighbouring countries, and the extreme weakness of the Congolese State has led to the 'satellization' of large parts of its territory. This has in turn led to the privatization and criminalization of public space, to the advantage of both neighbouring countries and local, regional and international 'entrepreneurs of insecurity'. From political, ideological, ethnic or security-induced, violence has become predominantly predatory, with loyalties and alliances essentially based on the search for personal or factional enrichment. In human terms, the damage caused by the occupation and plunder of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been colossal. App., bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]
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