Congo Masquerade is about mismanagement, hypocrisy and powerlessness in what has proved to be one of Africa's most troublesome and volatile states. In this scathing study of catastrophic aid inefficiency, Trefon argues that whilst others have examined war and plunder in the Great Lakes region, none have yet evaluated the imported 'template format' reform package pieced together to introduce democracy and improve the well-being of ordinary Congolese. It has, the book demonstrates, been for years an almost unmitigated failure due to the ingrained political culture of corruption amongst the Congolese elite, abetted by the complicity and incompetence of international partners. Startling and provocative, Congo Masquerade offers a critical examination of why aid is not helping the Congo.

The story of Africa is a ghost story with two plots. One is foreign or imported and the other indigenous or local. The foreign plot has its origin in colonial history. The indigenous plot is African in origin. But both plots end in the same place: African trauma and culture complex. These narratives create in modern Africa a splintered consciousness and the political and economic conditions that lead to physical and psychological violence. Unmasking the African Ghost is both a theological exploration of the reasons the political and economic systems in African countries have failed and a proposal for the paths toward recovery, anchored in the belief that Africa is a continent continuously trying to redefine its identity in the face of Eurocentrism. For the church in Africa to be a church at the service of its people, theology in Africa must take misery and oppression as the context for its reflections and its reconstruction of the social order. An African solution to African problems must be able to meet the needs of the time. It must look to the African past to draw from its riches--particularly the African sociopolitical ethic of ubuntu. It must also look ahead and draw from the best available sociopolitical system of modern states: liberal democracy. A hybrid of these two yields ubuntucracy. Ubuntucracy removes the ghosts of both Africa and its Western colonizers and begins a new story that can help Africa survive its double bind.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has the natural resources the world needs – it is crucial to satisfying our craving for the latest high-tech gadgets; the Inga Dam could light up all of Africa; while Congo's farmers could feed a billion people. These realities are redefining the country's strategic contribution to a globalized world. A resource paradise for some, the DRC is an environmental nightmare for others. Congo's Environmental Paradox analyses the new dynamics in the country's forest, mineral, land, water and oil sectors, revealing the interactions between these sectors. Connecting the dots, it shows how we need to fundamentally rethink power, politics and resource management in Congo today.

Lavish illustrations feature both iconic and never-before-published Pende masterworks, selected to

A city of over one million people caught between volcanic eruptions and armed conflict, Goma has come to embody the 'tragedy' that is the Democratic Republic of Congo. Often portrayed by outsiders as a living hell, Goma is nevertheless a city of opportunity for others. Drawing on a rich tapestry of personal narratives, from taxi driver to market trader, doctor to local humanitarian worker, Goma: Stories of Strength and Sorrow from Eastern Congo provides an engaging and unconventional portrait of an African city. In contrast to the bleak pessimism which dominates much of the writing on Congo, Trefon and Kabuyaya instead emphasise the resilience, pragmatism and ingenuity which characterises so much of daily life in Goma. Resigned and hardened by struggle, the protagonists of the book give the impression that life is neither beautiful nor ugly, but an unending skirmish with destiny. In doing so, they offer startling insights into the social, cultural and political landscape of this unique city.

Using a unique application of Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL), this book provides a critical, interdisciplinary, examination of the contemporary practice of UN peacekeeping. Is peacekeeping intervention? Since its conception in the mid-1950s, peacekeeping has significantly evolved from traditional, lightly armed, passive operations to robust, multi-dimensional stabilisation peacekeeping operations. This raises questions as to whether this is simply a natural evolution of peacekeeping or whether it marks an expansion of the concept beyond its boundaries, pushing it into the realm of peace enforcement or intervention. In response, this book examines the frameworks which govern UN peacekeeping and seeks to understand the relationship between peacekeeping and the principle of non-intervention. Providing practical examples from the United Nations’ operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and drawing upon interviews with key international actors including UN personnel, the book explores the boundaries of peacekeeping, contending that peacekeeping, at times, becomes a form of intervention. This, the book argues, is detrimental both to the concept of peacekeeping and to the host state, and it concludes by offering a series of recommendations to re-affirm peacekeeping’s boundaries and amplify the effectiveness of contemporary peacekeeping. This book will be of interest to scholars and students in international law, international relations, politics, history and criminology.

This 10th thematic volume of International Development Policy presents a collection of articles exploring some of the complex development challenges associated with Africa’s recent but extremely rapid pace of urbanisation that challenges still predominant but misleading images of Africa as a rural continent. Analysing urban settings through the diverse experiences and perspectives of inhabitants and stakeholders in cities across the continent, the authors consider the evolution of international development policy responses amidst the unique historical, social, economic and political contexts of Africa’s urban development. Contributors include: Carole Ammann, Claudia Baez Camargo, Claire Bénit-Gbaffou, Karen Büscher, Aba Obrumah Crentsil, Sascha Delz, Ton Dietz, Till Förster, Lucy Koechlin, Lalli Metsola, Garth Myers, George Owusu, Edgar Pieterse, Sebastian Prothmann, Warren Smit, and Florian Stoll.