The Roots of a Quarter-Century of Violence Lie to the East of Congo (Kinshasa)
Almost thirty years after the genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda, the entire region remains unstable. After Paul Kagame came to power, 1.5 million Hutus fled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. For the Rwandan president, they represented an unacceptable threat. There then followed the First and Second Congo Wars, the consequences of which are still apparent. The recent attacks perpetrated by the M23 rebels are a new episode in this tragic story.
Colette Braeckman, a Belgian journalist, was a senior reporter at Le Soir. A specialist in Africa, she has published several works on Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Article published in French only in Politique étrangère, Vol. 87, No. 4, Winter 2022.
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On (New) War
Are the new dynamics of power assertion, the redistribution of influence, and the emergence of new technologies changing both the place of war in the everyday life of our societies and the way war is waged when it occurs? Does the obsession with conflict, combined with technical efficiency, impose upon us a state of permanent latent war? And when weapons speak, does the involvement of modern technologies and the companies that produce them revolutionize both the political decision-making process and the way people are engaged in war? These are fundamental questions raised by the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, and they are already shaping current thinking on military strategy and organization.
The Year He Woke
Vikas Swarup, an Indian writer and former diplomat, is the author of four novels, including Q & A (New York: Doubleday, 2005), which has been translated into 47 languages and adapted for the screen under the title Slumdog Millionaire.
Text published in Politique étrangère, Vol. 91, No. 2, 2026.
War and Technology: An Approaching Military Revolution?
Historically, technological change has altered how battles are fought but has not overturned the fundamental principles of war. However, three considerations may now represent an actual revolution: the recourse to tactical nuclear weapons, the development of software for “multi-domain operations,” and the prospect of general artificial intelligence. The organization of militaries and the use of force need to be rethought in this light.
War and Technology: An Approaching Military Revolution?
Historically, technological change has altered how battles are fought but has not overturned the fundamental principles of war. However, three considerations may now represent an actual revolution: the recourse to tactical nuclear weapons, the development of software for “multi-domain operations,” and the prospect of general artificial intelligence. The organization of militaries and the use of force need to be rethought in this light.