Interventionism in Africa: Clandestine Networks and Proxy Wars in DRC and Exploitation of Resources

Abstract

This chapter reviews the literature to contextualize the intervention in the post–cold war era characterized by the momentum of globalization dominated by informal actors beside the legal authority of the state. It indicates how these actors deviate the primary purpose of the humanitarian intervention and create an ungovernable environment of the state particularly when interventions are operated in countries endowed with natural resources. The case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) serves as a model to ascertain such phenomenon in which actors such as states involved in intervention come in collusion with shadow elites, lobbyists and multinational companies to establish clandestine networks of illegal exploitation and smuggling of natural resources. The chapter winds up by suggesting the redefinition of policies of interventions to keep humanitarian intervention in its primary mission while holding actors involved in illegal and smuggling of natural resources accountable.

Citation

Jean-Baptiste, N. (2022), "Interventionism in Africa: Clandestine Networks and Proxy Wars in DRC and Exploitation of Resources", Figueroa, A.M. (Ed.) The Impact of Foreign Interventions on Democracy and Human Rights, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 25-54. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80117-340-720220003