Arbiters with guns: the ambiguity of military involvement in civilian disputes in the DR Congo

Based on extensive field research in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), this article elucidates the logics, processes and readings surrounding certain ‘extra-military’ practices enacted by the Congolese army, namely the processing of various types of disputes between civilians. Exceeding the boundaries of the domain of ‘public security’, such activities are commonly categorised as ‘corruption’. Yet such labelling, founded on a supposed clear-cut public–private divide, obscures the underlying processes and logics, in particular the fact that these practices are located on a blurred public–private spectrum and result from both civilian demand and military imposition. Furthermore, popular readings of military involvement in civilian disputes are highly ambiguous, simultaneously representing it as ‘abnormal’ and ‘harmful’, and normalising it as ‘making sense’ – reflecting the militarised institutional environment and the weakness of civilian authorities in the eastern DR Congo. Strengthening these authorities will be vital for reducing this practice, which has an enkindling effect on the dynamics of conflict and violence.     

Hydro-politics and hydro-power: the century-long saga of the Inga project

The proposal to build the world’s largest hydro-power project on the Congo River is a century old. This article argues that the Grand Inga project could become the political, diplomatic, and economic driver to deepening integration between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other African countries. The Inga delays were not without benefits. Twenty-first century sensibilities ensure revision of the proposed mega-project to minimize both ecological and social harm. While colonial-era projects were configured to maximize benefits to imperialist, settler, and corporate interests, independence and democratization are the prerequisites to facilitate the broadest possible distribution of the benefits of electrification. Since some of the countries involved have hybrid regimes, further democratization, and civil society lobbying, will be necessary to mitigate the downside of its ecological and social impacts.     

博白县抢抓多区域合作新机遇的战略构想

泛珠三角经济圈、海峡两岸农业合作和北部湾（广西）经济区构想的提出与实施,给博白县带来了千载难逢的多区域合作新机遇;而优越的地理位置和经济人文资源,非常有利于博白县抢抓多区域合作新机遇,打造“通江达海”新格局,并以此发展博白县的工业化、城镇化和现代农业。     

The securitisation of life: Eastern Kurdistan under the rule of a Perso-Shi'i state

Abstract

Since the 1979 Revolution, the Iranian state has adopted a sophisticated set of policies to assimilate the Eastern Kurds. The Kurds are often the main target of the Iranian state’s military operations, its assimilatory strategies, and its regime of surveillance. After the ‘conquest’ (fath) of Eastern Kurdistan (Rojhelat) in 1979, the state tried to retain control over the region through systemic militarisation, the establishment of ‘revolutionary institutions’, and new religious and cultural centres, to transform the demographic, religious and cultural profile of Kurdistan. This paper is an attempt to illuminate the state’s religious nationalism and various forms of assimilatory strategies that the Islamic Republic of Iran has employed to transform Kurdish regions.     

Within,Above, and Beyond: Churches and Religious Civil Society Activism in South Kivu

In South Kivu in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), various church actors have chosen to involve in advocacy and mobilization through a formalized civil society structure known as La Société Civile (LSC). In this article, we explore the relationship between the churches and civil society in Eastern DRC, paying particular attention to why this cooperation has taken such a formalized expression, the motivations of church actors to become involved in LSC and, finally, how this relationship between different civil society actors has underpinned various peacebuilding efforts at the local, provincial, and national scale.     

Tian Aiyun: Conserver and Exponent of Kaifeng Erjiaxian Opera

正ERJIAXIAN Opera originates in folk melodies in the area covering western Shandong Province,eastern and northern Henan Province,northern Jiangsu Province and northern Anhui Province,where it is most popular.Its main musical accompaniment is the sihu,a musical instrument with four     

Building a Bridge of Friendship between Peoples of China and Hungary

正Ever since its founding,the World Bridge Foundation of Hungary has been aiming to set up a platform of dialogue between China and Hungary,enhancing mutual understanding and cooperation between peoples in central and eastern European countries and the Chinese people with several thousand years of history.As the founder and Honorary Chairman of the Foundation,I have made continuous efforts in this     

全球化与苏东剧变

将自己置身于全球化进程之外,与全球化的发展趋势相脱轨,是苏东剧变的一个重要原因。     

颌面数字X线片性别判定指标的研究

目的筛选颌面侧位数字X线片(digital radiology,DR)的骨性定量指标,评估其在法医学性别判定中的应用价值。方法按纳入标准随机抽取颌面DR侧位片220例。对15项骨性指标(S-N,N-Me,Cd-Gn,S-Ns,S-Go(L),S-Gn,Cd-Go(L),SNA,SNB,SN-Npog,SN-MP,Gonial A,SN-RP,SN-NNs,SN-SGn)进行定量测量,采用方差分析方法分析各项指标是否有性别差异,应用逐步判别分析方法筛选出判别力较好的指标、建立判别函数并进行回代检验判别函数。结果200例颌面DR侧位片的15项指标中S-N,N-Me,Cd-Gn,S-Ns,S-Go(L),S-Gn,Cd-Go(L),SN-NNs等8项的性别差异有统计学意义(P<0.001);S-N,Cd-Gn,S-Ns,S-Gn 4项被纳入逐步判别函数。结论颌面DR侧位片中4项骨性指标(S-N,Cd-Gn,S-Ns,S-Gn)可用于性别判定,其判别准确率为95%。     

The civilised Self and the barbaric Other: ex-rebels making sense of sexual violence in the DR Congo

This article addresses discourses on gender and sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Based on discussions with 101 ex-combatants, we examine how former FDLR members make sense of sexual violence by studying prevailing gendered images of Self and Other. This analysis of potential perpetrators' mindset is part of the puzzle to find preventive measures. The findings demonstrate that ex-combatants attribute overwhelming power to biological ‘givens’ such as ‘urges’, ‘basic needs’ and ‘domination’ in their interpretation of sexuality. They also differentiate themselves from out-groups - enemy fighters and other nationals, especially Congolese - by attributing the latter with lower degrees of restraint. These insights demonstrate that a process of Othering is at work at the intersection of sex-gender-nation within the Congolese warscape, which complicates existing knowledge of sexual violence. The findings also suggest that the theoretical understanding of the phenomenon of sexual violence in war needs to place the notion of intersectionality central stage.