Filippov V.R. Congo-Brazzaville in the "Françafrique" networks

Abstract: Using the method of historical reconstruction, the author clears up the causes and the nature of the 1997 civil war in the Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), one of the bloodiest conflicts on the African continent for the entire post-colonial period. Comprehensive analysis of historical sources, including media sources materials, memoirs of participants of the events and investigative journalism allow ascertaining the motives and the goals of all parties to the conflict in this cruel confrontation. Special attention is paid to elucidating the role of France and some African countries (such as Gabon, Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in the outbreak of the Civil War in the Republic of the Congo; to the specific manifestations of the geopolitical doctrine of "Françafrique" in the internal conflict in a sovereign country. The research methodology is based on the system, structural and functional and comparative-political approaches, the methods of analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction and observation. This article demonstrates the role of the French secret services, the lobbyist networks of Charles Pasqua and the oil company "Elf" in the establishment of dictatorial regimes of Fulbert Youlou and Denis Sassou Nguesso and the assassination of the President Marien Ngouabi, in the organization of the coup and the 1997 civil war inciting. The author concludes that the interference of the Elysee Palace in the internal affairs of the Republic of the Congo was conditioned by the will to preserve the allegiance of the Congo-Brazzaville from the former metropolitan country, to gain unconditional preferences in the development of the oil deposits of the Gulf of Guinea and to ensure military and political dominance in the strategically important region. The study is funded by the Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation (RHSF), Project number 15-01-00363 , "External interference in the internal affairs of the Third World countries in the period of the Cold War: the experience of a multi-level analysis ".

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