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THE HEART OF IMPERIALIST DARKNESS: WESTERN INTERESTS AND

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE CONGO

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, formerly Zaire), with a vast

wealth of mineral resources, is potentially one of the richest countries in Africa.

This same mineral wealth has proven attractive to foreign governments and

corporations seeking riches to plunder. From the brutalities of Belgian

colonialists and their US imperialist backers to the trespasses of neighbouring

governments in Uganda and Rwanda, the Congo has been made a killing floor of

exploitation. In Congo, various national armies and local militias, proxies of

imperialist powers, have fought or are fighting over control of some of the world's

largest and richest deposits of gold, diamonds, cobalt and coltan.

The death toll from the war in the DRC, which began in 1998, is higher

than in any other since the Second World War, with an estimated 4.7 million

killed in the last four years alone (Economist, 2003: 23). The International

Rescue Committee (IRC), an aid agency based in New York, reports that the

mortality rate in the Congo is higher than the United Nations (UN) rates for any

other country on the planet (NewsAfrica, 2003: 6).

According to IRC President George Rupp the crisis in the Congo is "a

humanitarian catastrophe of horrid and shocking proportions. The worst mortality

projections in the event of a lengthy war in Iraq, and the death toll from all the

recent wars in the Balkans, don't even come close" (NewsAfrica, 2003: 6).

Despite these horrible facts, the crisis has gone largely unnoticed and unreported

upon in the West. As David Johnson, the director of IRC operations in eastern

Congo has stated: "This is the worst calamity in Africa this century, and one

which the world has consistently found reasons to overlook" (quoted in Africa

Today, 2003: 6).

The recent war in the Congo started in August 1998 when an uprising

against the Kinshasa government of Laurent Kabila was launched in the east,

backed by forces of the Ugandan and Rwandan governments (which receive their

main support from imperialist "coalition of the willing" leaders, the US and

Britain). The Ugandan government claimed it was defending its western borders

against rebels based in Rwanda, while the Rwandan forces claimed to be

defending themselves against Hutu militias on the Congo border. Apparently this

border protection required Rwandan forces to occupy the diamond-rich town of

Kisangani, 700 miles inside the Congolese border.

Militias were also funded by neighbouring governments hostile to the

Congolese government. The conflict in Congo has over its course seen

involvement from the governments, and rebels, of Angola, Uganda, Rwanda,

Burundi and South Africa. This has led some commentators to refer to the

conflict as "Africa's World War." Along the way there has been evidence of

involvement by mercenary companies including MPRI of the US, Sandline of

Britain and Executive Outcomes of South Africa (Griswold and Stevens, 1999).

African countries have long been viewed by imperialist powers as sources

of exploitation for the West without regard for the development of the countries in

which the resources are located. The strategic industries of the imperialist

countries depend on primary materials such as those found in the Congo. The

metals leave Congo in their primary state of ores or concentrates and thus bring

only minor returns to begin with, even without the depressed prices enforced by

conditions of war.

Throughout the tumultuous periods of post-independence, Congo has

remained subjected to imperialism and neo-colonialism. Imperialist interests

pursuing private gain have always played a significant and sinister part in the

ongoing Congo tragedy.

This article offers an investigation into the contours of contemporary

imperialism through an analysis of specific economic and political interventions

in Congo. The war economies, processes of balkanization and shadow state

networks instituted through imperialist manipulation in Congo have much to teach

about the forms of capitalist geopolitics in the age of globalization.

IMPERIALISM AND AFRICA

A detailed presentation of the various theories of imperialism is well

beyond the scope of this article. Bracking and Harrison (2003: 6) note that

imperialism, despite encompassing different meanings,

has almost always been a concept used to evoke critique of the

global political economy: to identify the inequities of what is now

called 'globalisation'; to condemn the bullying tactics of the

Western states; to investigate the cultural arrogance and discursive

authoritarianism of liberalism's marriage to 'freedom, equality,

property and Bentham..., that is, capitalism.

A great strength of most theories of imperialism is to emphasize the

central importance of exploitation, especially the extraction of value from the

global South, both as a means to defuse societal rotes in the North (Biel, 2003)

and to underwrite and extend regimes of accumulation.

Nkrumah (1965) earlier discussed Western intervention, political and

especially economic, as neo-colonialism which he views as the most developed

and most dangerous phase of imperialism. As Nkrumah has illustrated, under

neo-colonialism the economic systems of nominally independent and sovereign

states are controlled or directed from outside. Decades ago Nkrumah identified

the US, and especially US capital, as the crucial support of the neo-colonial

system.

The U.S. provided arms and/or military training to combatants in 11 of 12

recent conflicts on the continent. Other major U.S. Cold War clients, Liberia,

Somalia and Sudan also succumbed to violence and economic collapse during the

1990s.

As Biel (2003: 82) notes, the specific case of US imperialism as it relates

to Africa "is influenced by the special way Africa has been shaped by colonialism

and imperialism as a whole: an area to be freely plundered of its resources,

initially human, then increasingly minerals and cash crops. Subsequent attempts

at 'modernising' imperialism often intensify these tendencies."

Ismi (2002: 14) details the stunning extent of U.S. economic and political

interests in Africa: "Nearly 80% of the strategic minerals the U.S. requires are

found in Africa, including 90% of the world's cobalt, 90% of the platinum, 40%

of the gold, 98% of the chromium, 64% of the manganese, and one-third of the

uranium." Significantly, these minerals are all indispensable components in jet

engines, missiles, electronic components and iron and steel the raw materials of

imperialist tools of conquest.

Feeding military demands of imperialism has always been as pressing as

feeding economic demands. Before the Second World War most of the West's

iron and steel output was based on local raw materials. After the war much of the

raw materials used in these industries have been imported. The factories and

industries and militaries of the West are fed by the mining production of Africa to

the impoverishment of the countries of origin.

The post-war militarization of Western economies has been built on

African minerals. As Nkrumah (1965: 59) noted in the 1960s: "Africa's raw

materials are an important consideration in the military build up of the NATO

countries." In turn military preparations have had a great impact on the demand

for Africa's minerals.

With the collapse of the Soviet bloc and the re/emergence of neoliberal

capitalist globalization, the scramble for African resources has once again heated

up among the imperialist powers.

This renewed neoliberal scramble is already shaping up as a confirmation

of Nkrumah's earlier fears: "It can be even more deadly for Africa than the first

carve up, as it is supported by more concentrated interests, wielding vastly greater

power and influence over governments and international organisations (Nkrumah,

1965: 109)

In the contemporary context, imperialism has come to refer to "the

predominance of the United States and its militarised bullying of so many post-

colonial states since 1945" (Bracking and Harrison, 2003: 6). The contemporary

global system exhibits mixed characteristics of hierarchy, involving collective

dominance by the North, and hegemony, specifically leadership by the US (Biel,

2003). This sense has only gathered renewed intensity since September 11, 2001

with US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and the implied threats to North Korea

and Iran as part of George W. Bush's "axis of evil" (which included Iraq under

Saddam Hussein's rule).

This is why imperialism is still important, it provides a far more

useful starting point that globalisation to understanding Africa's

relations with the global political economy. Embedded in critique,

imperialism refuses to accept that bourgeois civilisation has lived

up to its own historic claims of progress and well-being. As such,

those who wish to imagine a politics of progress, development and

popular well-being would do well to (re)engage with the concept

of imperialism, both to identify and challenge the hypocrisy of

metropolitan idealism and self-serving discourses of benevolence

(Bracking and Hamilton, 2003: 9)

The relevance of an analysis of imperialism to contemporary situations in

Africa be demonstrated by looking at specific regimes of accumulation. Bracking

and Hamilton (2003) suggest that the most incisive way of using the concept of

imperialism is to understand the particular contours of political and economic

intervention.

CONGO: A HISTORY OF COLONIALISM AND NEO-COLONIALISM

Congo has been an important area for imperialism for a number of

reasons. It is the second largest African country in terms of area, bordering nine

other countries right in the centre of the continent. The country is a link between

the states of the Indian and the Atlantic Oceans. DRC is home to the world's

largest deposits of copper, cobalt, cadmium and coltan.

For many Westerners the Congo "has long been a symbol of Africa. The

very word 'Congo' has resonance for the many Americans who never heard of

most of the African states which quietly reached independence and unobtrusively

went about their business" (Ferkiss, 1966: 169). Imperialist interests would not

allow Congo to go about its business, since for the imperialist powers the Congo

was always viewed as their business. The ongoing imperialist intervention has

ensured that "increasingly the Congo became a symbol not only of bloodshed but

of frustration" (Ferkiss, 1966: 169).

In few areas have Western colonialism and imperialism been so vicious

and destructive as in Congo. Ismi (2001) notes that genocide and plunder have

been Western policy towards the mineral-rich Congo since the 1885 Berlin

Conference assigned Congo as the personal property of Belgium's King Leopold

II.

Congo suffered under 115 years of Belgian colonialism and neo-

colonialism. More than ten million Congolese were killed, halving the population

during that period (Wrong, 2001). Under the brutal Belgian rule, millions of

Congolese were subjected to torture, slavery and forced labour as the colonizers

pursued the maximum exploitation of ivory and rubber from the country

(Hochschild, 1998; Wrong, 2001). Workers hands were severed for not working

hard enough and women were kidnapped to force their husbands to collect rubber

sap (Ismi, 2001). The regimes of primitive capitalist accumulation imposed by

the Belgian colonialists were so horrific that George Washington Williams, an

African-American human rights activist who worked to end the atrocities in

Congo, coined the term "crimes against humanity" to describe what he had seen

upon a visit to the country (Hochschild, 1998; Ismi, 2001). As an eerie precursor

to the present day exploitation of Congo to serve the needs of the information

societies/age, Leopold's brutal predations in the Congo were driven by the newly

emerging appetites of the auto age, notably the growing need for rubber for

pneumatic tires.

As one commentator has noted, "the ghost of a Congo political entity

which was a mask for foreign economic exploitation of Africans was born at the

Free State's demise" (Ferkiss, 1966: 170). Since independence governance in the

Congo has followed "the Free State formula all over again, a sham sovereignty

masking rapacious white corporate interests" (Ferkiss, 1966: 170).

Congo fell within the US sphere of influence in 1960-61 after a CIA-

sponsored coup which saw the murder of Patrice Lumumba, leader of the

country's first elected government. The US government feared that Lumumba

would take Congo into the pro-Soviet camp and President Eisenhower himself

approved of Lumumba's assassination (Wrong, 2001).

Western imperialist machinations were responsible for finally installing

the CIA's paid agent Mobutu in power in 1965 (Taylor, 2003). Under his

dictatorship, which received ongoing US backing, Congo suffered another 37

years of terror and looting similar to what had been imposed under Belgian rule.

In the years following independence in 1960, much of the turmoil centred

on the mineral-rich Katanga Province and its Western-backed secessionist

government. Two major invasions of Katanga Province by opposition forces of

the Congolese National Liberation Front (FLNC, Front de la Libération

Nationale Congolaise) were met by interventions from outside forces in support

of Mobutu: Moroccan forces in 1977 and French forces in 1978 (Taylor, 2003).

Indeed outside forces were instrumental in defending the Mobutu regime from

popular uprisings.

Between 1965 and 1991, Mobutu's regime received more than $1.5 billion

in military and economic aid from the US (Wrong, 2001). At the same time, US

multinational corporations were granted increased access to Zaire's mineral

wealth.

The Western alliance with Mobutu also played a part in Cold War

geopolitics. As an imperialist foothold, Zaire was used by the US as a base to

launch campaigns against the nominally socialist MPLA government in Angola

from its assumption of power in 1975 until Mobutu's ouster in 1997.

Eventually, Mobutu's personal pillaging of Zaire, which saw as much as

95% of the country's budget reserved for his own "discretionary spending," led to

US to seek alternatives in the country which might allow even greater access for

Western corporations. Especially unacceptable to imperialist interests were

Mobutu's attempts to maintain state control over mining operations.

With the removal of Mobutu, outside forces have maintained a steady hold

on the post-Mobutu regimes, continuing to shape the political economy of Central

Africa. The manner in which imperialist forces have maintained their grip on the

post-Mobutu Congo is crucial for any understanding of the political economy of

contemporary Central Africa (Taylor, 2003: 47).

A MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE: WESTERN IMPERIALISM AND THE

RISE AND FALL OF LAURENT KABILA

The struggles that led to the replacement of Mobutu by Kabila in some

ways had the character of classical imperialist battles between competing states as

described by Lenin. Laurent Kabila's rise to power came with considerable

backing from North American interests. US backing of Kabila provided the

opportunity "of playing the modernising card in opposition to the neo-colonial

manipulation of the European powers" (Biel, 2003: 84).

In many respects, Kabila's victorious entry into Kinshasa marked

out a victory for the 'Anglo-Saxons' over French interests, which

had supported Mobutu until the very end. The international aspect

of this supposed internal war in the Congo may be contextualised as

part of the struggle between Washington and Paris for spheres of

influence (and, particularly, markets) on the continent (Taylor,

2003: 49).

In March 1997, AMF's founder, Jean Raymond Boulle, signed a $1 billion

agreement with Kabila's rebel forces to develop a zinc mine at Kipushi and a

cobalt venture in Kolwezi. As part of these arrangements, which also included

approval to sell diamonds in Shaba province, Boulle loaned Kabila a personal jet.

World Policy Institute (WPI) reports that an executive from US-based

Bechtel corporation became a close advisor to Kabila, travelling the country with

the rebel leader and assiting him with information to develop his war strategy

(Hartung and Montague, 2001). Bechtel then had the opportunity to work with

Kabila in drawing up the most complete mineralogical and geographical data ever

assembled on Congo.

In early 1997 a trip by a Kabila representative to Toronto to promote

investment opportunities in Congo may have raised as much as $50 million for

Kabila's forces (Ismi, 2001). Among Kabila's circle of Canadian advisors was

then-leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, Joe Clark, former

Canadian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. In the mid-1990s Clark had

become First Quantum Minerals' special advisor on Africa.

Once in power Kabila surprised his former allies by refusing to hand over

control of Congo's mineral wealth. Kabila also retracted several mining contracts

signed with US and European companies during the period of his alliance with

Uganda and Rwanda, including a US$ 1 billion contract with American Mineral

Fields International (AMFI), a mining company based in former US president Bill

Clinton's hometown of Hope, Arkansas. He also refused to pay the huge debt to

the IMF and World Bank run up under Mobutu. Kabila began to nationalize

resources and allowed mining concessions to China and North Korea. "[B]y

1998, the Kabila regime had become an irritant to the United States, North

American mining interests, and Kabila's Ugandan and Rwandan patrons. As a

result, Rwanda and Uganda launched a second invasion of the DRC to get rid of

Kabila and replace him with someone more servile" (Madsen quoted in Taylor,

2003: 50). International capital grew so frustrated with Kabila's dishonouring of

contracts that he had signed with foreign businesses that some companies offered

him $200 million to leave the Congo (Taylor, 2003). There is even reasonable

speculation that Kabila was assassinated because he refused to concede outright

control over the enormous mineral deposits, including some of the world's most

significant deposits of gold, diamonds, cobalt, manganese, uranium, copper, zinc

and increasingly important, coltan, a key component in cell phones and

computers.

Furthermore, Kabila Sr. began constructing alliances on a private

basis with both individual companies that shouldn't by rights have

benefited from Kabila's emergence and, with African regimes such

as Zimbabwe and Angola that were, at best, ambivalent about the

encroaching Western influence in the region and at worst (Mugabe

in his more excited flourishes) rabidly 'anti-Western' (Taylor,

2003: 51).

Tellingly, the new president, Kabila's son Joseph, has openly embraced

neoliberal capitalist policy. One of his first acts as president was to fly to the US

to give back mining concessions to companies that had had them revoked under

his father's rule. In trips to Paris, Brussles, Washington and New York he has

held many private sessions with top European and American business leaders.

Additionally he publicly pledged during a trip to the United States to deregulate

the Congolese economy, privatize major state-run companies and introduce neo-

liberal investment codes in line with IMF demands.

Kabila has also met with Maurice Tempelsman, head of the US-based

Corporate Council on Africa, a figure with a long and dubious history of illicit

involvement in Congolese affairs, including arms and diamond trading and, who

has been linked, incredibly, to the assassination of Patrice Lumumba.

WESTERN MINERAL INTERESTS

The UN Group of Experts on Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources

and other forms of Wealth in the Congo concluded that resource exploitation was

directly responsible for the ongoing "an economy of war" in the region. Illegal

exploitation of resources had established a predatory network of elites, including

army and government leaders and multinational companies. Multinational

companies played the crucial roles, both direct and indirect, in this situation.

Indeed without the corporations the illegal mineral trade would not be possible.

The panel identified 29 companies and 54 individuals involved in "mineral

rape" and human rights violations, occurring with "complete impunity." 85

multinational mining firms were accused of ignoring OECD ethics guidelines.

The list included firms in violation of guidelines prepared by the Organization for

Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) which outline acceptable

business conduct for multinational companies operating or based in 33 adhering

countries.

Most of the gold production in Congo comes, not surprisingly, from the

northeastern parts of the country that have suffered the worst fighting of the war.

The main gold exploration ventures in Congo are those of Banro, a Canadian

company cited for violations by the UN Security Council, and the Anglo-

American/Barrick joint venture. Barrick and Banro have both been accused of

funding military operation in exchange for lucrative contracts (Ismi. 2001).

Official gold production in Congo in 1999 was 207 kg but since 1960

minimal exploration has taken place. The Kamituga-Mobale mine was producing

approximately 800000 ounces per year until the start of the most recent civil war.

Imperialist interests are also quite interested in the Lugushwa concession where

gold production was 800 kg per year in the early 1960s. The state owned Okimo

gold mine has a production capacity reported to be almost six tons of gold per

year. The company signed an agreement with Barrick Gold. The Kimin Gold

Mining Company, which had its activities suspended by the government has

planned to raise production from 1.5 tons to 8 tons per year from gold reserves of

124 tons. During the civil wars, both Banro and the Anglo American/Barrick

joint venture continued to make progress in Congo gold exploration projects.

Through a settlement with the DRC government, Banro came to hold a 100% title

to the Twangiza, Kamituga, Lugushwa and Namoya gold deposits, with the

government retaining the tin rights.

Banro Resource Corporation, through its 93%-owned subsidiary,

SAKIMA SARL, controls 10 mining permits and 47 mining concessions covering

an area of 10 271 km2 in eastern Congo. After an agreement with the government

of Congo, Banro came to hold 100% title to the Twangiza, Kamituga, Lugushwa

and Namoya gold deposits.

South Africa's AngloGold, the world's largest gold producer, and Barrick

Gold, the second largest gold producer, joined together on an exploration venture

encompassing 57 000 km2 of northeastern Congo in the area along the Ugandan

border which has been most severely torn by conflict. Under terms of their

agreement AngloGold and Barrick Gold will each hold 40 per cent interest in the

region's Kilo-Moto property with the remaining 20 per cent held by the DRC

government. The agreement between the two companies established AngloGold

as the manager of the joint venture properties in Congo.

Barrick had proceeded, in 1996, in getting the Gold Office of Kilomoto,

the Mobutu government's monopoly, to transfer mining rights over almost all of

its 82 000 km2 of land to Barrick. The area holds as estimated 100 tons of gold in

reserve (Griswold and Stevens, 1999). George Bush I was instrumental in

winning the Barrick deal.

First Quantum Minerals, a firm with copper-mining interests, was cited for

paying government ministers to obtain mining rights. According to the report,

First Quantum offered the government a $100 million (US) down payment is cash

amount and shares held in trust for government officials. The payment list

included the national security minister, the director of the national intelligence

agency and the former minister of the presidency.

Of particular importance in understanding imperialist intentions in Congo

are the interests of the mining company American Mineral Fields (AMFI). Only a

month before the fall of Mobutu in 1997, AMFI signed contracts with Kabila's

alliance for an investment of nearly one billion dollars in copper, cobalt and zinc

mines and processing plants in Kolwezi and Kipushi (Griswold and Stevens,

1999).

AMF is an intriguing example of an international interlocutor in

the Congo war which has links with the very top of Washington's

political elites. Whilst it was involved in the DRC its headquarters

were in Hope, Arkansas Clinton's hometown. It's senior

stockholders comprised veteran political friends of Clinton...The

link between this influential company and American foreign policy

in the region is important (Taylor, 2003: 48).

Ominously the industrial enterprises set up by AMFI are also "interested

in the contract for the construction of the orbital platform around the world that is

destined to replace the Russian station MIR" (Baracyetse, 2000). The space

platform is a centrepiece of the proposed National Missile Defence system driven

by George W. Bush and his Vice President Donald Rumsfeld. Indeed, the space

station cannot be built without many of the rare metals located in eastern Congo's

mineral-rich Ituri province. The National Missile Defence system is projected as

a $60 billion venture.

Central in the struggles for control of strategic minerals in DRC is a little-

known but highly sought after mineral called columbite-tantalite or coltan. While

an extremely rare mineral it is a virtually ubiquitous part of the information

society. In processed form coltan is a crucial component in the manufacture of

mobile phones, jet engines, night vision goggles, fiber optics and capacitors, air

bags and computer chips.

Notably the end products of coltan are little used in the seven countries

that were involved in the wars in Congo. These products are almost exclusively

consumed in countries of the global North, with the United States being the

largest consumer of electronic equipment.

Coltan miners work long hours in extremely hazardous mining conditions.

Most miners sell their labour to one of the many rebel groups in the area, which in

turn sell the ore directly to multinational mineral companies (Vick, 2001). Battles

over control of the coltan mines is the direct cause for much of the fighting in

areas surrounding the concessions. "It is capitalism in its purest form," according

to Robert L. Raun, prseident of US-based Eagles Wings Resources, a company

that has purchased Congolese coltan for several years. The price for a ton of

coltan ranges from US$100-US$200000

PROXY IMPERIALISM: THE WEST'S STEALTH WAR IN CONGO

The US provided arms and/or military training to all seven combatants

involved in the DRC conflict. The World Policy Institute (WPI) reports that of

the US$19.5 million in US arms and training delivered to African armed forces in

1999, US$4.8 million went to nations involved in the war in Congo (Hartung and

Monatgue, 2001). Rwanda and Uganda are the bulwarks of support for the US in

the region. Human Rights Watch confirms that the US supported their forces'

invasion of the Congo (see Ismi, 2002: 14).

Wayne Madsen, author of "Genocide and Covert Operations in Africa

1993-1999," testifying on the war in Congo to the Subcommittee on International

Operations and Human Rights of the United States House of Representatives,

reported that:

American Mineral Fields directly benefited from America's initial

covert military and intelligence support for Kabila. It is my

observation that America's early support for Kabila, which was

aided and abetted by U.S. allies Rwanda and Uganda, had less to

do with getting rid of the Mobutu regime than it had to do with

opening up Congo's vast mineral riches to North American-based

and influenced mining companies (quoted in Taylor, 2003: 48).

The great weakness of left theories of imperialism, one which is illustrated

in the case of imperialism in the Congo, has been the "emphasis on rivalry

between the global powers and neglect for the possibility of evolving more

modern, collective structures of dominance [emphasis in original]" (Biel, 2003:

77). American interest in the Congo, which has long included substantial

investments, has often been hidden behind the cover of British, French, Belgian

and German interests.

Britain is the largest donor to the governments of both Uganda and

Rwanda apart from the US. The Blair government, which joined the United

States at he forefront of the imperialist assault on Iraq, contributes £30 million per

year to Rwanda but has done little to condemn the Rwandan government for their

role in the slaughter (Bafalikike, 2003: 21).

Uganda received $1.5 million in US arms and military training in 1999,

while in 2000 Rwanda received $325 000 through the US military training

program IMET (International Military Education Training) (Ismi, 2002: 14). In

addition the US Special Forces trained the Rwandan army in counterinsurgency,

combat and psychological operations, with special training on fighting in Congo

(Ismi, 2002: 15).

The Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) recruited and trained young men

and boys from Rwanda, Uganda and eastern Zaire for the campaign against

Mobutu (Taylor, 2003).

When the AFDL-CZ (Alliance of Democratic Forces for the

Liberation of Congo-Zaire) and their Rwandan allies reached

Kinshasa in 1996, it was largely due to the help of the United

States. One reason why Kabila's men advanced into the city so

quickly was the technical assistance provided by the DIA and other

intelligence agencies. According to informed sources in Paris, US

Special Forces actually accompanied ADFL-CZ forces into

Kinshasa. The Americans also reportedly provided Kabila's rebels

and Rwandan troops with high definition spy satellite photographs

that permitted them to order their troops to plot courses into

Kinshasa that avoided encounters with Mobutu's forces (Madsen

quoted in Taylor, 2003: 49).

Ensuring the war and instability in Congo would continue, and perhaps

hedging their bets, the US funded other sides in the conflict, contributing $1.4

million in training to Zimbabwe and $500 000 to Namibia. As only one example

of imperialist hypocrisy, in 1999 Britain and the US vetoed Zimbabwe's annual

application to the IMF for that country's involvement in the war in Congo. The

veto was enacted purportedly "to stop Zimbabwe from 'indulging in those kinds of

adventures', they said" (Apira, 2003: 53). On the same day that Zimbabwe's

application was denied, both Uganda and Rwanda, whose forces were much

bigger players in Congo, had their applications approved.

Similarly, while the British government has imposed sanctions on

Zimbabwe for violating democratic rights, it continues to carry on what one

commentator calls a "love affair with the Ugandan government," offering

political, economic and diplomatic support (Apira, 2003: 53). This has occurred

despite the fact that the Ugandan government has exceeded agreed upon limits to

defence spending (African Business, 2003: 22).

Indeed the British government has "long been supportive of Kampala and

Kigali's efforts to 'control' rebel forces positioned outside their borders" (African

Business, 2003: 22). At the same time the British government well knows that the

real motivation behind Uganda and Rwanda's interests and involvement in Congo

is mineral exploitation. A subtle shift in British relations in East Africa has only

been noted since news of the massacres in Ituri province, an area dominated by

Ugandan forces raised some international alarm.

Western governments rewarded the Rwandan government for its efforts in

the Congo plunder by doubling aid from $26.1 million in 1997 to $51.5 million in

1999, an increase that greatly expanded the Kigali government's capacities

for waging war. The World Bank also looked favourably on the policies of the

Ugandan and Rwandan governments, and singled out Uganda ‘s recent economic

performance for special praise, without a hint of embarrassment over the fact that

much of that performance was attributable to illegal exports of gold and diamonds

from Congo. The US-dominated Bank concluded that Uganda was living up to

donor conditions of not spending more than two percent of the country's GDP on

the military. On this basis, Uganda became the first country to be nominated for

debt relief in the amount of $2 billion (Willum and Willum, 2000). In addition to

being listed as a key "good example" in George W. Bush's "compact for

development," initiated in March 2002, Uganda was selected as host of a US-

organized regional seminar on the benefits of AGOA (Biel, 2003: 86).

At that meeting, Museveni told his sponsors exactly what they

wanted to hear: 'From the beginning, I knew that the solution to

Africa's backwardness was trade and not aid', while he was in turn

described by the US Assistant Trade Representative for Africa as

'my hero'. For good measure, the US ambassador also offered

friendly advice on how to adapt to international trade 'Compete or

perish' (Biel, 2003: 86-87).

The UN report claimed that Rwanda and Uganda were looting and

plundering eastern Congo's resources and exporting them illegally to the West.

Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi are condemned in the report for "mass scale

looting" which drained existing stockpiles of minerals, livestock, agricultural and

forest products in the occupied zones of eastern Congo between September 1998

and August 1999. Armies from each country were cited for removing the

contents of banks, factories, farms and storage facilities and transporting them out

of Congo. In addition, Rwanda and Uganda extracted diamonds, gold, timber and

coffee from eastern Congo and illegally shipped them to the West. In November

1998, the Rwandan army moved seven years worth of coltan stocks, almost 1500

tons, to the Rwandan capital of Kigali. Coltan exports alone brought more than

$250 million to Rwanda in one 18 month period between 1997 and 1998. Despite

the absence of diamond mines within their countries, both Rwanda and Uganda

have increased diamond exports to the West since 1998. Between 1999-2000

Uganda exported at least $3 million worth of diamonds, while diamond dealers in

Congo have provided almost $2 million per year to the Rwandan army (Ismi,

2001).

According to an anonymous World Bank source, "Uganda makes a million

dollars a day pillaging gold and diamonds in Congo" (Willum and Willum, 2000).

Much of the gold was sold below value to multinational corporations and

exported from Uganda, ironically improving the country's balance of trade and

improving its standing before the Bank. The World Bank, intent on protecting the

billions of dollars invested in Uganda, chose to ignore even an IMF report that

gold was being smuggled into Uganda from Congo. In fact, Uganda provided

extra-budgetary financing for its military by plundering the mineral fields of the

Congo.

Illegal resource extraction has allowed for the constitution of criminal

cartels, formed or protected by military commanders, in occupied areas. The UN

report singles out Presidents Kagame and Museveni for providing the cartels with

the opportunity to organize and thrive in the area and goes on to suggest that the

cartels, connected with global networks, pose the next serious security threat in

the region.

The UN report notes, significantly, that the illegal plundering of eastern

Congo has been facilitated by Western companies, governments, multilateral

institutions and diplomats (Ismi. 2001). As one example, Coltan exports from

Rwanda were carried by Sebena, the national airline of Belgium while the

necessary financial transactions were carried out by Citibank (Ismi, 2001). Deals

between Rwandan coltan sellers and US companies were promoted by the US

Honorary Consul in eastern Congo, Ramnik Kotecha, who himself was dealing in

Coltan (Ismi. 2001).

The pressing need to finance the war put the Congo government in the

desperate position of offering quick, under-valued deals to mining companies

over exploration rights. This made resources available much more cheaply than

they would have been during peacetime conditions.

NETWORKS OF IMPERIALISM

Lenin identified as a key basis for imperialism the extensive networks of

close ties and relationships involving even very small capitalists. Recent

discussions of Empire have brought back a focus on the importance of networks

for the working of contemporary geopolitics. The growing focus and emphasis on

networks, as in recent theories of Empire, while offering insight into current

developments within or against global capitalism, "also runs the peril of

downplaying what is obvious to all observers: the persistent, and historically

structured concentration of power emanating from the West [emphasis in original]

(Bracking and Hamilton, 2003: 7). Imperialism structures relations between local

governance practices and international networks of capitalist governance.

International capital's involvement in the Congo debacle was

clearly being run along 'business as usual' lines, reflecting a

coincidence of interests and local elites. This was very much run

in a network fashion with little care for the policies and practices

of the elites involved unless they began to encroach too much on

commercial operations (Taylor, 2003: 50).

Imperialist involvement in Central Africa has given rise to and instituted a

form of informal regionalism comprising a "shadow network" of states, private

armies, businesses and various elites, both inside and outside of Africa. The state

of disorder facilitated the emergence of new networks operating in areas where

the formal state was in a process of collapse. This situation encouraged the

emergence of "warlord capitalism" and a "shadow state" (or states) "which

retained enough substance to negotiate with and benefit from international

capital's willingness to conduct business with such entities" (Taylor, 2003: 51).

Indeed some of capital prefers this condition.

It seems that it is no longer necessarily the case that presidents are

dedicated to a project of establishing control over a specific

recognised territory, with all the bureaucratic encumbrances and

requirements to maintain some form of consensual balance...Now,

the informalisation of economic and political activity can

counterbalance the erosion of state capacity and power. By

expanding internal and external clientistic networks, elites within

conflict-ridden spaces pursue what Duffield refers to as 'adaptive

patrimonialism' (Taylor, 2003: 52).

Behind imperialism in Congo, as elsewhere is the "invisible government"

based on corporate connections with the Pentagon and various American

intelligence services. The US government's intelligence agencies have long

worked closely with the corporations seeking to exploit Congo's vast fortunes.

Tellingly, the invisible government links individuals and agencies of the visible

government with supposedly private business firms and institutions. A primary

objective of the invisible government has long been to achieve colonialism while

publicly affirming independence and freedom.

The development of such networks requires, crucially, the construction of

transboundary formations. As Taylor (2003: 45) notes, "without extensive

international activities and connections, the type of scenarios currently playing

themselves out in the Congo would not be possible." Specifically, it is

international business that has financed and sustained the participants in the

conflicts in Central Africa (Taylor, 2003). The local networks can only sustain

themselves through the connections they establish with major transnational firms,

which, for their part, maintain political connections with powerful Western states

(Bracking and Hamilton, 2003; Taylor, 2003). The involvement of transnational

business and state forces "were neither peripheral nor determinative in the

political trajectories of Uganda, the Congo, and the Great Lakes region in general.

They were, and are, constitutive" (Latham, Kassimir and Callaghy, 2001: 2).

NEOLIBERALISM AND IMPERIALIST NETWORKS

The structural context that has nurtured the particular regional processes in

the Congo has been conditioned by neoliberal globalization, notably through the

imposition of structural adjustment programs in Africa (Taylor, 2003). Neoliberal

globalization has encouraged the formation of the, often illicit, cross-border

networks with multinational corporate linkages that have been central to the

devastation in Congo. Significantly, "instead of bringing about stability and

(legitimate) growth, impulses generated by globalisation have contributed to the

further deepening and development of criminal networks and decidedly quasi-

feudal forms of political economy" (Taylor, 2003: 52).

A couple of key points have been identified in the relationship of

neoliberal approaches in Africa and the extension of Western imperialism. First

among these is the extent to which "rulers of weak states who face severe internal

threats and intense external pressures, are the most consistent and thorough in

destroying any remaining formal institutions of state" (Taylor, 2003: 52). A focus

on imperialism in Congo thus requires a rethinking of the notion of state collapse

in Africa which has long been used to justify US intervention. The internal and

external pressures instigated by imperialist machinations in situations like Congo

have the further effect of driving the privatization regimes preferred by Western

corporations and governments. Not surprisingly, "outside creditors, foreign firms,

and even elites from 'stronger' neighbouring states participate in or support hard-

pressed rulers' attempts to deal with political events in this unexpected fashion"

(Taylor, 2003: 52). Reno (2001) suggests that the constitution of these economic

linkages with networks of global capital revives aspects of the notion of

"imperialism by invitation" as local elites build power through access to and

control over trade with the West.

In essence, the Westphalian state system, foisted on Africa by

imperialism, means that today there remains a new scramble for

Central Africa, only this time by international political and

economic actors anxious to secure the signature of the 'official' (as

opposed to the unofficial) big man. In doing so, this new form of

imperialism, interacting with local elites interests, has helped craft

a distinctly unconventional form of regionalisation and may be

constructing decidedly unorthodox versions of the state, one in

which it is extremely unlikely that the average African will be

rescued from her distress. Responsibility for such a scenario is

shared, for sure, but certainly the unscrupulous activities of

international capital must be blamed for stoking the fires and

perpetuating further misery for the people of the DRC and beyond

(Taylor, 2003: 54).

Imperialist initiatives have great bearing on state formation within the

Congo. These new processes of state formation, rather than minimizing the state

as neoliberal ideologues might suggest, present transformations of the state which

may in fact facilitate its centralization (Bayart, Ellis and Hibou, 1999).

"Structural adjustment itself is an exercise in international policing; it has created

changes in the international system, for example the weakening of Southern state

power giving way to a re-definition of the state itself: the 'enabling state', creating

forms of governance suited to the era of globalisation" (Biel, 2003: 80).

A crucial aspect of the new arrangement has been the notion of regional

political order. Favoured governments do not only conduct "governance" within

their territories but act as regional powers (Biel, 2003). As part of this initiative

"selective partnerships" were formed with the leaders of countries including,

notably, Uganda and Rwanda. The selective partnerships recall the deployment

of joint military manoeuvres and "advisors" during the cold war (Biel, 2003).

As Taylor (2003: 52) suggests, rather than representing an anomalous

form of regional project, "the type of alliances and transboundary networks

currently reconfiguring Central Africa may well offer a prophetic vision of what

may be in store for vulnerable and peripheral areas of the world."

This is particularly so where there exist elites who are more than

willing to craft shadow networks with international capital bent on

the extraction of Africa's resources for private profit. Such

networks are held by the local protagonists as examples of their

space's integration into the global capitalist economy and of their

adherence to the hegemonic neo-liberal order (Taylor, 2003: 53).

In recent years the US has looked for new means of military intervention

in Africa, a process that has intensified since September 11, 2001 (Biel, 2003).

The US is not necessarily looking for large-scale military base facilities since

force can be deployed directly from the US (Biel, 2003). Thus much attention has

been placed on increased investment in long-range deployment strategies for agile

and mobile forces (Biel, 2003). This has encouraged the emergence of new forms

for the relationship with military proxies. "Like military bases, direct subsidiaries

of the core firm are a thing of the past, but instead the structures would be more

informal. The post-September 11th discourse indeed explicitly centres upon

building a network, a 'coalition of coalitions'" (Biel, 2003: 85).

Bayert, Ellis and Hibou (1999: 115) suggest that external intervention and

interference are "related to the manner in which Africa is inserted in the

international system through economies of extraction or predation in which many

of the leading operators are foreigners whose local African partners have to a

considerable degree based their careers on the use of armed force." The

imperialists' preferred strategies are either to install obedient leaders or divide the

area into minor enclaves, each led by leaders who can be influenced or

intimidated to allow the mining companies to have their way. They hope to

achieve their objectives through the dismembering of Congo and its partition into

a series of microstates lacking financial resources and economic infrastructure,

what might be termed a form of balkanization.

Nkrumah (1965) long ago noted that neo-colonialism is the breeding

ground for the "limited wars" that have marked the last half-century. Thus neo-

colonialism is a threat to world peace. Neo-colonialism undermines the formation

of larger regional or continental units that would make "limited war" impossible.

"Limited war" is only possible where small or weak states exist. In such cases a

decisive result can be won "by landing a few thousand marines or by financing a

mercenary force" (Nkrumah, 1965: xi). Neo-colonialism is based on the breaking

up of formerly united territories "into a number of small non-viable States which

are incapable of independent development" and must rely on an imperial power

for finances, defence and internal security (Nkrumah, 1965: xiii). As Nkrumah

(1965: 14) noted decades ago: "Balkanisation is the major instrument of neo-

colonialism and will be found wherever neo-colonialism is practised."

The immediate benefit to neo-colonialism is that weak states can be

"compelled to sell their primary products at prices dictated by the developed

nations" (Nkrumah, 1965: xiv). This is especially the case where a country is

subjected to an ongoing war economy as in Congo. War conditions especially

benefit the imperialist powers by keeping supplies of minerals off the market and

thereby increasing the prices gained for minerals controlled by the multinational

mining firms. Of course Western monopolies are already favoured at the expense

of poorer nations by the fact that international capital already controls the world

market and the prices of commodities bought and sold.

CONCLUSION

As Biel (2003) notes, modern imperialism expresses different

contradictory demands which are not easily reconciled. Among these

contradictions, "the extraction of profit always tends to clash with the demand to

permit sufficient local accumulation to fund a governance structure to guarantee

the future extraction of profit." Again, a focus on imperialism in the Congo

impels a rethinking of the notion of state collapse in Africa which has long been

used by Western governments to justify military intervention. "The Southern state

must still, as a rule, be relied upon for the two main tasks of political/military

repression and 'enabling' the process of global capital accumulation within the

country. African elites are aware of this fact, which gives them some scope for

manoeuvring" (Biel, 2003: 85).

In cases of "failed states" the imperialist agenda may include the

reconstitution of "new state machines" which will primarily benefit rebel groups

working with Western corporations and governments (Biel, 2003). The most

prominent model is probably the promotion to power by the US of Northern

Alliance forces in Afghanistan. Indeed, Deputy Defence Secretary Paul

Wolfowitz has openly confirmed this expectation with respect to finding "exactly

those sorts of people" to play a similar role in Somalia (Biel, 2003).

In the Congo, US imperialism has preferred informal or illicit governance

structures through proxies and militias, in effect a militarization of society and

governance structures. Under the pressures of neo-liberal structural adjustment

programs and imperialist invasion and occupation the state gives primary

attention to developing and maintaining loyalty with security services (Richards,

1996). This then fuels the militarization of society as it "elevates the role and

power of those with weapons and prioritises their needs over the wider needs of

society, cultivating warlordism either in service to the incumbent who wears the

thin mantle of sovereignty, or to his challengers" (Taylor, 2003: 53).

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