Violence and Fragmentation in Congo’s Political Marketplace

Over thirty years of conflict in eastern Congo have been marked by a deepening of the role of violence in politics as well as a progressive fragmentation of the landscape of armed groups. Deepening insecurity in eastern Congo coincides with competition over political power on the national level between the political networks around Felix Tshisekedi and Joseph Kabila. This report explores the relations between political dynamics on the national level and in the east, analyzing the historical evolution and properties of the Congo’s political economy of conflict and testing a political marketplace lens—an approach that foregrounds how the conduct of elites mirrors that of firms competing in a marketplace.