Why Comrades Go to War: Liberation Politics and the Outbreak of Africa’s Deadliest Conflict PDF
Preview Why Comrades Go to War: Liberation Politics and the Outbreak of Africa’s Deadliest Conflict
Title Pages Why Comrades Go to War: Liberation Politics and the Outbreak of Africa's Deadliest Conflict Philip Roessler and Harry Verhoeven Print publication date: 2016 Print ISBN-13: 9780190611354 Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: May 2017 DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190611354.001.0001 Title Pages (p.i) Why Comrades Go To War (p.ii) (p.iii) Why Comrades Go To War (p.iv) Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Page 1 of 2 Title Pages Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 Copyright © Philip Roessler and Harry Verhoeven 2016 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. 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ISBN: 9780190611354 Printed in India on acid-free paper Page 2 of 2 Dedication Why Comrades Go to War: Liberation Politics and the Outbreak of Africa's Deadliest Conflict Philip Roessler and Harry Verhoeven Print publication date: 2016 Print ISBN-13: 9780190611354 Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: May 2017 DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190611354.001.0001 Dedication (p.v) In memoriam of those who died in the killing fields of Central Africa (p.vi) Page 1 of 1 Acknowledgments Why Comrades Go to War: Liberation Politics and the Outbreak of Africa's Deadliest Conflict Philip Roessler and Harry Verhoeven Print publication date: 2016 Print ISBN-13: 9780190611354 Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: May 2017 DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190611354.001.0001 (p.xiii) Acknowledgments From its very initial stages following a fortuitous encounter between the authors in January 2009 in St Antony’s College, Oxford, Why Comrades Go to War has benefited immensely from the support of a wide variety of people and organizations. We can only thank some of them here; others, particularly those in Central Africa who provided invaluable assistance to this project but cannot be mentioned because of security reasons, should know how grateful we are to them even if their names are not included in the following pages. This book would not be possible without you. The genesis of this publication was at the University of Oxford, where we were both affiliated for many years to the Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR). At Oxford, the collaboration at first revolved around research on Congo for Phil’s book Ethnic Politics and State Power in Africa (See its Chapter 9, “A Model-Testing Case: Explaining Africa’s Great War,” from which our book builds). But we quickly realized the story of the outbreak of Africa’s Great War could not be confined to a single chapter. As we found ourselves drawn back to Central Africa again and again to pursue even more interviews and greatly expand upon our original research, we set off to write a stand-alone book on this important subject, with greater focus on the regional dynamics of liberation revolutions and the causes of the organizational weakness of the coalition that came together to overthrow Mobutu. Page 1 of 3 Acknowledgments Both the DPIR as an institution and many individuals associated with the department or other university bodies were crucial in getting this project off the ground, sustaining it for almost six years and finishing it in the course of 2015. David Anderson provided encouragement and intellectual stimulation from the start, but also read the entire manuscript and posed incisive questions that forced us to rethink regularly. Ricardo Soares de Oliveira proved (p.xiv) invaluable in deepening our understanding of the Congo–Angola link and making sense of the MPLA’s complex strategic calculations. Phil Clark was an outstanding sounding board throughout the project. Others with Oxford connections who helped us include Barbara Harrell-Bond, Miles Larmer, Henning Tamm, Sharath Srinivasan and Tony Jackson. The OUP John Fell Fund was crucial in providing seed money that enabled us to begin our research for this book, including our first few research trips together. We are deeply grateful for all this assistance. After our time in the UK, we both went our separate ways, to American institutions: to the College of William and Mary, which has been unfailing in its support of this project, and to the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University, based in Qatar. The latter funded a trip to Eritrea and coordination meetings between us as authors, but also—through the financial and logistical aid provided by its Center for International and Regional Studies—a book workshop which brought together academics from across the broader region to discuss our manuscript. The resulting feedback improved our thinking and writing substantially. In this context, we thank Mehran Kamrava, Zahra Babar, Umber Latafat, Sally Moral, Naomi Chazan, Afyare Elmi, Peter Van der Windt, Ibrahim Elnur, Theodor Hanf and C.S.R. Murthy. The most important funder of our work was the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation (HFG), which enabled us to spend two years traveling across the African continent, from Asmara and Addis to Kigali, Kinshasa and Luanda. It was the HFG whose generous aid in 2013 and 2014 allowed us to take the project to the next level and to pursue many loose ends with much greater vigor. Without the Foundation, the research for this book and our understanding of the causes of Africa’s Great War would have been much less comprehensive. We also want to thank several fellow academics who took out many hours of their valuable time to discuss the emerging facts, evidence and conclusions with us between 2009 and 2015: Filip Reyntjens, Tom Turner and Will Reno are outstanding scholars on whose work Why Comrades Go to War builds. We are very fortunate to have received such encouraging suggestions from people who are both so familiar with the region we have been studying and with the conceptual frameworks upon which our book draws. Similarly, we much enjoyed collaborating with a number of people at Hurst, where we wish to thank Michael Dwyer, Jon de Peyer, Sebastian Ballard and Tim Page. Page 2 of 3 Acknowledgments In the thirteen countries where we conducted fieldwork, a huge number of people provided extraordinary assistance to help us put together the unprecedented (p.xv) range of interviews on which the core arguments of Why Comrades Go to War rely. It is impossible to mention everybody, but to name the most important ones: in Congo, Nadia Ilunga (whose research assistance was exceptional) and Celio Mayembe; in Angola, Manuel Correia de Barros and Charles Delogne; in Rwanda, James Wizeye, Dieudonné Rurangirwa and Frank Begumisa; in Uganda, Tony Otoa; in Tanzania, Koenraad Adam; in Eritrea, Christine Umutoni and Elsa Mussie. We also thank Frank De Coninck, Ian Martin, Johan Swinnen, Mauro De Lorenzo, Marco Jowell, Peter Verlinden, Koen Vlassenroot and Jason Stearns for their direct and indirect contributions to the research. A special mention should be reserved here for two remarkable individuals, both key eyewitnesses to the conflict and sources of measured reflection on the events that constituted Central Africa’s killing fields: Frank Rusagara and Alain Ilunga. This book would not be the same had it not been for your insights and time. We also acknowledge the confidence and courage of our hundreds of interviewees. We are especially indebted to those still in positions where reflecting critically on the past and the ways in which it still shapes the present is often a dangerous endeavor. We wish to pay a special tribute to Lucie Kampinka, whose life was forever scarred by some of the events discussed in this book, but whose fortitude and testimony shook us and inspired us to dig deeper. Visiting Nyamata and Ntarama with her served as an essential reminder of the stakes of how history is studied and written. Finally, our families and friends have been incredibly understanding of the many sacrifices that writing Why Comrades Go to War required. Kate and Maimuna were our lighthouses in the turbulent seas that writing a 430-page book inevitably ends up producing; they were, as ever, irreplaceable. Our parents’ love and belief continues to make all the difference, as they always have—we are two extremely fortunate sons. Lucy, Lena and Libby joined this world in 2011, 2013 and 2015 and gave their father yet more motivation to complete the research and manuscript. Lisa, Mike, Steve, Katie, Kim, Dan, Kristen, Ben, Betsy, Paul, Christine, Dennis, Tomovic, Joan, Simu, Matoke, Jorge, Sam, Sofia and Gihad provided much needed laughter, context and comfort at different phases of this project. Luc Verhoeven was a father and mentor to one of us and a friend and fellow football fan to the other. He unexpectedly passed away as the manuscript was being completed, but his imprint is visible in every chapter. We miss him terribly. (p.xvi) Page 3 of 3 Abbreviations Why Comrades Go to War: Liberation Politics and the Outbreak of Africa's Deadliest Conflict Philip Roessler and Harry Verhoeven Print publication date: 2016 Print ISBN-13: 9780190611354 Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: May 2017 DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190611354.001.0001 (p.xvii) Abbreviations ADF Allied Democratic Forces ADP Alliance Démocratique des Peuples AFDL Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo-Zaïre AIC Association Internationale du Congo ALiR Armée pour la Libération du Rwanda AMF American Mineral Fields ANC African National Congress Balubakat Association Générale des Baluba de Katanga BCD Banque de Commerce et de Développement BCDI Banque de commerce du développement et d’industrie CCM Chama Cha Mapinduzi CNL Comité National de Libération CNRD Conseil National de Résistance pour la Démocratie Conakat Confédération des associations tribales du Katanga Page 1 of 4 Abbreviations CPP Convention People’s Party DGSE Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure DMI Directorate of Military Intelligence DSP Division Spéciale Présidentielle EPLF Eritrean People’s Liberation Front EPRDF Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front FAA Forças Armadas Angolanas FAC Forces Armées Congolaises FAPLA Forças Armadas Populares de Libertação de Angola FAR Forces Armées Rwandaises FAZ Forces Armées Zaïroises (p.xviii) FDLR Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Rwanda FLEC Frente para a Libertação do Enclave de Cabinda FLN Front de Libération Nationale FRELIMO Frente de Libertação de Moçambique FRONASA Front for National Salvation GSSP Groupe Spécial de Sécurité Présidentielle ICI International Commission of Inquiry IDF Israel Defense Forces JUFERI Jeunesse de l’Union des Fédéralistes et Républicains Indépendants LRA Lord’s Resistance Army MIBA Societé minière de Bakwanga Page 2 of 4 Abbreviations MLC Mouvement pour la Libération du Congo MNC Mouvement National Congolais MPLA Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola MRLZ Mouvement Révolutionnaire pour la Libération du Zaïre NALU National Army for the Liberation of Uganda NRA/M National Resistance Army/Movement PAIGC Partido Africano da Independência da Guinée Cabo Verde PALIR Peuple en armes pour la liberation du Rwanda PRP Parti de la Révolution Populaire RANU Rwandan Alliance for National Unity RCD Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie RENAMO Resistência Nacional Moçambicana RPA Rwandan Patriotic Army RPF Rwandan Patriotic Front SADC Southern African Development Community SPLA/M Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement SWAPO South West Africa People’s Organization TANU Tanganyika African National Union TK Tigres Katangais TPDF Tanzania People’s Defense Force TPLF Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front UDPS Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social Page 3 of 4 Abbreviations UNAMIR United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda UNITA União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola UNIP United National Independence Party UPDF Ugandan People’s Defense Forces (p.xix) USARF University Students’ African Revolutionary Front WNBLF West Nile Bank Liberation Front ZANLA Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army ZANU Zimbabwe African National Union (p.xx) ZDF Zimbabwean Defense Forces Page 4 of 4
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