The New School Graduate Program in International Affairs

DRC - A Country Lost in "Transition"

In September 1991, Mobutu's half-hearted attempt to reform "from above" a quarter-century of authoritarian prebendalism sparked off a looting spree in Kinshasa - the first in a series and the portent of his fin de règne. Ever since, former Zaire has been in "transition": transition from neo-patrimonial dictatorship to democracy; transition from a kleptocracy to a market economy holding out the promise of development; transition from a war-torn country to a re-unified nation, reconciled within its borders and at peace with its neighbors; finally, transition from a Cold War asset - a satrapy of the West, namely of the United States and France - to a post-conflict "model" of the international community which has heavily invested into peace-keeping, and nation building, in the DRC.

At the same time, over the past seventeen years, the Congo has been in permanent turmoil, a highly personalized regime was replaced by a dynasty, the country's economy is still in the hands of politically well-connected "oligarchs", and national reconciliation and peace - at least in the east - remain elusive. So, is it slow-motion transition we are witnessing, or something else? To put the DRC's trajectory into perspective, this seminar will draw on concepts such as "competitive authoritarianism" and "hybrid regimes" to explain the paradox of a transition to more of the same.

We are privileged to have Duke University's Professor Stephen Smith to wrap up our Conflict in the Conflict Seminar Series.

Stephen W. SMITH, PhD is currently teaching African Studies, Cultural Anthropology and Public Policy at Duke University. He is the former Africa editor of the Le Monde and has been working on Africa for twenty-five years, previously for Reuter's, Radio France International and the French daily Libération. In 2005, he established himself as an independent journalist and book author. His latest publication on Africa, co-authored with Sabine Cessou, is a biography on Winnie Mandela, released in November 2007 in Paris. Other publications include How France lost Africa (2005), an atlas of Africa (2004), a travel book on the Congo River and an essay entitled Negrology. Why Africa dies (2003), biographies of Emperor Bokassa (2000) and general Oufkir (1998), as well as reports on the Central African Republic (December 2007) and Nigeria (July 2006) by the International Crisis Group (ICG). Though born in the United States, Stephen Smith spent most of his life in Europe. He studied African law and Anthropology at the Sorbonne, in Paris, and Philosophy, History and Political Science at the Free University of Berlin, where he completed his doctorate in semiotics on foreign news coverage.