Conflict and cooperation in Central Africa: Explaining behavioral transformations of states in the post Cold War (Congo, Zaire, Uganda, Rwanda, Angola)

Inspired by Graham Allison's explanations of the Cuban missile crisis, this dissertation focuses on the October 1996–May 1997 civil war in Zaire and seeks to illuminate the complex puzzles of the changes in the behavior of state and non-state actors in the sub-region in the post-Cold War. Four main questions guide the inquiry. (1) Why did Uganda, Rwanda, and Angola intervene in the internal affairs of Mobutu's Zaire by supporting the rebellion of the Laurent Kabila-led Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of the Congo/Zaire and Sudan, the Mobutu regime? (2) Why did non-state actors commit troops to fight in an external war? (3) Why did France and other francophone states in Central Africa rely on mediation? (4) Finally, why did negotiations fail to bring the conflict to an end?; To answer these queries is to examine factors that are central to relations between nations and critical to the understanding of the security dynamic in Africa and in the post-Cold War international order. To this end, the dissertation utilizes two theoretical frameworks as conceptual tools with significant capacities to explain post-Cold War behavioral changes of states in Central Africa. These analytical frames of reference are the realist theoretical traditions and the constructivist framework. The assumptions and logics of the two frameworks underpin various hypotheses that are formulated to direct the search for explanations of the behavior of state and non-state actors involved in the Zairean civil war.; The study concludes that state and non-state actors intervened to either to preserve or modify the structure of the international system, including attempts to move ftom proto-states to states. From the perspective of social constructivism, the dissertation argues that states acted to replace the domination of France with a Bantucentric structure of ideas. The constructivist analyses were, however, constrained by limitations of the Bantucentric structure of ideas.; Analyses are qualitative and rely on evidence drawn from reports on the activities of state and non-state actors in the print and electronic media. Secondary sources such as specialized journals and the analyses of area experts are explored.