ABSTRACT
This chapter examines an example of strategy that has been forged in strength, and another of strategy forged in weakness. The reasons for Congolese state weakness are geographic, demographic and historic. A multi-ethnic state covering a huge territory, its borders are a product of the ‘Scramble for Africa’. Belgian colonial rule began in 1908. Legal scholar Filip Reyntjens explains the new government’s weak position: Although there was no state worth mentioning and a whole half the national territory was outside government control, Kabila represented a sovereign legal entity recognized by the international community. Israel’s discernibly lopsided policy mix, with security considerations given undue prominence, reflects its history of being besieged by enemies. A policy mix that placed a revived peace process at its core would require restraint from Israeli security forces, who would have to refrain from killing militants, even if they acquired actionable intelligence.
