ABSTRACT
The international climate ensured that no major international powers were keen on keeping Mobutu Sese Seko in power. He lost support from France, Belgium, and the United States. This chapter illustrates how Mobutu's loss of power required a confluence of several important factors: the inherent weakness of authoritarian regimes built on systems of declining personal patronage; the post-Cold War environment and the changing nature of international interests in Africa; and civil wars and domestic struggles in neighboring countries. It includes some discussion concerning the role neighboring states Uganda, Burundi, and Angola played in the conflict. The intertwined conflicts in the Great Lakes Region provide an example of where outside intervention has important and often terrible consequences, and where there has been little success at creating political systems when various groups in society feel that their interests and citizenship rights are not well-represented or respected.
