Prominent peripheries: the role of borderlands in Central Africa's regionalized conflict

Abstract

The Great Lakes region of Central Africa has been beset by conflict for close to two decades now. Aside from the unprecedented humanitarian consequences, the most striking feature of the violence has been its profoundly regional character. This paper seeks to explore how one might better understand the spread and cross-border nature of conflict in this region. It argues that the dominant contemporary model for explanation of regional conflict, with its overwhelmingly state-centric orientation, is inadequate in providing a comprehensive understanding of the structure of this type of violence. Rather, the so-called peripheries of states – borderlands – need to be taken as not only the starting point, but also the actual central referent point when it comes to regional conflict analysis. This paper demonstrates how the regional conflict involving the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda is constituted in part through phenomena located in the borderlands. These are unique cross-border dynamics that emanate from the presence of the borders themselves, and the borderlands' positions of being on the margins of states; they operate in the form of destabilizing socio-political and military–economic networks. Ultimately, the extreme regionalization of conflict in areas such as that of the Great Lakes of Central Africa cannot be properly understood without consideration of the role played by such borderland dynamics.

Keywords:

• regional conflict
• transnational conflict
• borderlands
• Great Lakes
• Central Africa
• Democratic Republic of the Congo

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to two anonymous reviewers, Wolfgang Zeller, and Devon Curtis for their very helpful comments. Any errors are the author's alone.

Notes

What is now known as the ‘DRC’ has been referred to by different names throughout its pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial history; however, for clarity this paper consistently uses only ‘DRC’.

The conflict's history has been extensively covered in numerous other works and this paper does not provide a background or synopsis of the area's conflicts.

Kristian Skrede Gleditsch distinguishes between direct contagion (‘non-actor-specific spillover effects’) and indirect contagion (‘actor-specific mechanisms’) (Gleditsch 2007).

This paper uses ‘translocal’ in the same manner as John Heathershaw and Daniel Lambach, namely: ‘local spaces can take subnational or transnational forms. Such “translocal” spaces can take the form of [for example] cross-border networks of seasonal labour migrants or long-term relations between diaspora and the homeland.' Thus, translocal helps to draw attention to the transnational nature of local forces in borderlands, and their lack of operational confinement to state boundaries (Heathershaw and Lambach 2008, 282).

This paragraph in part draws upon Scorgie 2011.

It is important to emphasize the fluctuating character of borderlands: they change over space and time, expanding or shrinking in accordance with both local and non-local forces.

This section on socio-political dynamics of borderlands in part draws upon Scorgie 2011.

Especially in Africa, these situations tend to be exacerbated by the lack of security measures and personnel at borders. There is often a severe weakness – if not absence – of policing on many African state boundaries, at times allowing for a sudden and uncontrolled movement of volatile populations across borders. As Anderson says, ‘African states lack the trained personnel, the technology and the financial resources to prevent the unauthorised movement of persons and goods across their frontiers. Movements from one state to another of starving people, ethnic groups threatened with massacre, migrant workers, guerrilla fighters, diamond smugglers, drugs and weapons dealers can threaten the interests of a neighbouring state. International tension results if the conviction grows that more could be done by the “exporting” state to control the problem, and that this neglect is wilful’ (Anderson 1996, 83–85).

This disconnect was not only in the political sphere, but also had a cultural element. Kinshasa came to be increasingly perceived as a centre of ‘decadence and predation’, while Nande hubs such as Butembo developed more of a ‘globalized’ culture due to the close interactions with both the translocal level and also global markets (Raeymaekers 2007, 190).

This section on military-economic dynamics of borderlands in part draws upon Scorgie 2011.

In the absence of a viable alternative, the term ‘illicit’ is used; however, the author recognizes its value-laden and problematic nature.