Tim Imhof Book Review

English FS 2023

Book Review

Civil Wars in the Republic of Congo

By Emizet Francois Kisangani

Emizet F. Kisangani tries to conceptualize and examine 50 years of history in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC). 50 bloody years filled with social unrest, authoritarian regimes
and armed conflict. Kisangani takes us from the Independence of the DRC in June 1960 to the
year 2010 and by doing that investigates 17 Civil Wars that claimed the lives of more than 4
Million people. For defining Civil Wars, he uses the definition proposed by Levy and
Thompson, widely recognized in political science.1

This definition says that Civil Wars are conflicts between at least two political groups that act
against each other violently and therefore kill at least 1000 people and displace more than
2000 people in the first three months of the conflict.2

Kisangani, who grew up and later began his academic career in Kinshasa, the capital of the
DRC and experienced some of these conflicts firsthand, is now a professor of political science
at Kansas State University. He rejects dominant theories of causes for Civil War endorsed by
other historians and political scientists. These dominant theories can be broadly summarized
as theories involving greed, grievances and identity approaches. As he describes in his book,
the greed of ambitious usurpers and grievances of unhappy Congolese citizens are not
sufficient to explain the many Civil Wars that have haunted the country since its
independence. Kisangani views the third approach, which focuses on the identity of the
different population groups in the DRC in a slightly more favorable light, but ultimately
rejects this explanation for Civil Wars as well as the others. However, he acknowledges, that
it is almost undeniable, that the very diverse culture groups in the DRC, split the population
along lines of varying identity.3

Kisangani proposes the idea, that the Civil Wars in the DRC follow repeating processes. He
begins explaining his main argument by describing, what he calls critical antecedents. Critical
antecedents are underlying factors that contribute to unrest and political instability in the
DRC. Prominent examples are economic crises, corrupt government institutions, ethnic and

1
Kisangani, E. (2012). Civil wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1960-2010, p. 1.
2
Levy, J., & Thompson, W. (2010). Causes of war, p. 5.
3
Kisangani, E. (2012). Civil wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1960-2010, p. 1-3.
Tim Imhof Book Review
English FS 2023

regional tensions, as well as external causes. These are fundamental problems, which plague
the DRC and flare up right before Civil Wars begin. While tensions in the country are high,
critical junctures can intensify the ongoing conflicts, which evolve into Civil Wars. Two well-
known critical junctures were the Rwandan genocide in 1994, resulting in a refugee crisis in
the DRC and the 1997 coup replacing the authoritarian leader Mubutu, who ruled the DRC for
over 30 years. According to Kisangani, critical junctures often times erupt because current
rulers of the DRC deliberately exclude certain groups of elites in the DRC from political
power. Kisangani names this concept politics of exclusion.4

Figure 1.1: Process-Tracing Model of Civil Wars 5

After Kisangani lays out his argument, consisting of the processes of critical antecedents and
critical junctures resulting in Civil War, he guides the reader through all of the 17 Civil Wars
defined by him from 1960 to 2010. He analyzes every conflict with qualitative and
quantitative data and basically gives the reader a historical description of the Civil Wars
happening in the DRC, while applying his political argument on each and one of them. His
descriptive writing style, paired with Data to back it up, make for a very convincing read.
Furthermore, his structure is clear and practical. By going in chronological order of the
conflicts, broader correlations can be made visible.

Although his argument seems to fit every conflict, it needs to be said that his terms critical
antecedents and critical junctures are so broadly defined, that they could probably be applied
to almost every Civil War in history. This does not have to be a bad thing, but it seems a bit
hypocritical that Kisangani at first disregards political theories that use greed, grievances and
identity approaches, just to later paint a picture of Civil War cycles which often include these
approaches just with different names. For example, by stating that the 1994 Rwandan
genocide was a critical juncture resulting in Civil War, Kisangani has to admit that identity
approaches are definitely necessary to understand this conflict.
4
Kisangani, E. (2012). Civil wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1960-2010, p. 3-15.
5
Kisangani, E. (2012). Civil wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1960-2010, p. 7.
Tim Imhof Book Review
English FS 2023

Additionally Kisangani limits the scope of the book by using the definition for a Civil War by
Levy and Thompson. As mentioned before this means that only conflicts that kill a 1000 or
more people can be discussed in this book. This exclusion of minor mutinies and rebellions
restricts the book and there are several important events in the DRC history which are left out
because of this. Nonetheless I think this approach is wise, for the reason that the scope of the
book is already very ambitious. Including more minor disputes would complicate the book
unnecessarily. However, a different case can be made for outside interventions. The DRC is
not isolated on the political map. During the first and second Congo War the DRC has seen
multiple military interventions by neighboring states such as Uganda and Rwanda. These
important intrusions of the sovereign state are very important pieces of history, which were
not discussed as thoroughly in the book as they should have. Same goes for UN peacekeeping
missions performed by blue helmets. The MONUSCO and its predecessor the MONUC have
had very important influence in the region. Their importance can be seen by the fact that the
MONUSCO to this day is the biggest peacekeeping mission ever employed in the world. It is
understandable that Kisangani wanted to limit the scale of the book to only Intra state wars,
but it is important that the reader is made aware of the information left out in the book.

Another point, which I think is important to make, is that you simply can not understand the
history of the DRC without thoroughly examining its time as a colonial nation. King Leopold
the second and other colonial players extracted many of the region`s resources and shaped
DRC law and culture in important ways. The DRC before the colonial nation was not a
functioning nation state but rather a region divided by different tribes, ethnicities and cultural
boundaries. Putting these divided regions under the banner of one state can definitely be seen
as on of the causes for the situation in the Great Lakes region of Africa today.

In conclusion, I think Kisangani`s book is an excellent analysis of Civil War. It helped me

personally to understand complex conflicts that I was not yet familiar with and which can be
very challenging to get a grasp of. His book features a unique mix of historical description
and political analysis. The only serious drawback I see from this approach is that it seems at
times, that he is trying to do too much. It can be very overwhelming when you are confronted
with a lot of complex events and scientific data for a time span of 50 years. Nevertheless, it is
a very much recommended read for people who are interested in understanding the political
history of the DRC and the Great Lakes region of Africa.

Bibliography
Tim Imhof Book Review
English FS 2023

Kisangani, E. F. (2012). Civil wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1960-2010. Lynne

Rienner Publishers. Boulder.
Levy, J. S., & Thompson, W. R. (2010). Causes of war. Oxford.