"This book examines international factors such as enforced democracy and globalization that are affecting the Great Lakes region of Africa. The widespread violence and horrendous human suffering have been extensively reported in the media, but news coverage since 1994 has often been unreliable. This book adopts an independent, and on occasion controversial perspective. Starting from Rwanda in the regional geopolitical context during the 1990s, it follows the expanding instability into the Congo, explaining why war and regress must be seen in the context of globalization and democratic transition."--Jacket.