SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Since the conference of Berlin in 1884 when the boundaries on African countries were formalised by the European colonisers, the politics of powerful nations have heavily influenced events in Congo. Towards the end of the 20th century and into the 21st century, China has played an increasingly significant role on the African continent in general and in Congo in particular. The persistent interventions of great powers in Congo have shaped the institutions of domestic politics through the incentives and constraints imposed on the leadership. Meanwhile, the population of Congo has been engulfed in waves of violence of various intensities, have found ways of surviving and have developed a particular socio-political, economic and cultural base that channels continuity and identity.