Abstract
The Congo wars 1996-2003 underscore the importance of scale of regional conflicts. In many aspects, Congo crisis’s had been interpreted as the extension of the Rwandan genocide. The chapter stresses the significance of the colonial legacy. I trace the brutality of the Belgian colonization of Congo as a framework to grasp the ongoing structural challenges the nation faced since independence.
Keywords: Leopold II, Spiritual Revolution, Kimbanguism, Post-colonial independence, First Congo War 1996-1997, Second Congo War 1997-1998, Refugees, Mobutu Sese Seko, Zaire, Paul Kagame, Laurent Désiré Kabila, Joseph Kabila, United Nations Security Council (UNSC) inefficacy, Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement, State collapse, Democratic Republic of Congo, Resistance movements, Regional conflict, Tutsi, Belgian Congo, Leopard secret society.