9
Congo (United Nations 2001) (United Nations 2002) transports the reader into a
realm usually reserved for spy mysteries. In a nutshell, the various actors (the
government of the DRC, the various rebel movements, the armed forces of
Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe and their respective government) all conspired
in one form or another, directly or through proxies, to profit from the mineral
and other wealth available in the areas under their control. They did and do so by
exploiting resources, stealing stockpiles, entering into agreements with
transnational corporations (TNCs) in order to produce, procure and sell these
resources in a global market and accumulate the profits.
2
The descriptions of
plunder, of the intricate organizational structures created to facilitate this
plunder and of the manner in which private and public/military interests
collaborated to facilitate this are truly fascinating reading. The spy novel
character of the story last, of course, only until one realizes that these are not the
flights of imagination in the latest bestseller but actual events and actions which,
as usual, leave large numbers of broken limbs and lives in their wake.
The nature of plunder and the close connection to military force highlight
what seems to be more than just a passing resemblance to Tilly account outlined
above. We see the use of state power to provide protection for particular business
interest in which state agents may or may not have a direct stake and the
expansion of territory under a specific state’s control. The assumption that this,
had it happened 200 years ago, would represent another example of state making
2
In addition to the UN reports cited above, see also Samset (2002), Nest Nest, M. (2001).
"Ambitions, Profits and Loss. Zimbabweab Economic Involvement in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo." African Affairs 100: 469-90., Clark (2001) and Jackson Jackson, S. (2002). "Making a
Killing:Criminality & Coping in Th Kiva War Economy." Review of African Political Economy 29(93/94):
517-36.
Convention