Why Comrades Go to War: Liberation Politics and the Outbreak of Africa’s Deadliest Conflict

484 Pages·2017·2.518 MB·English

by  Philip Roessler, Harry Verhoeven

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)
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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,
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and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
Philip Roessler and Harry Verhoeven.
Why Comrades Go To War: Liberation Politics and the Outbreak
of Africa’s Deadliest Conflict.
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)
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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.
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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)
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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
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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
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