[ L’amenuisement de la valeur stratégique des frontières de la République Démocratique du Congo en Afrique: Plaidoyer pour l’usage d’équipements technologiques ]
Volume 53, Issue 1, February 2021, Pages 40–49
Scheel Mutombo Kianga1
1 Master’s student in International Relations, University of International Business and Economic, Beijing, China
Original language: French
Copyright © 2021 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
The present article analyzes the strategic value of the Democratic Republic of Congo borders. During the second republic, the personal equation of the statesman, President Joseph Mobutu in this case, based on strategic border management made the country shine in the sub-region. Its fall resulted in a substantial erosion of the role that borders played in safeguarding peace, territorial integrity and the protection of the population. In other words, over the past two decades, border management services have faced challenges of a new nature. Globalization and the threat of terrorism, rebel groups, criminal gangs and even the national armies of neighboring countries have transformed the situation by creating a climate which demands high performance and optimal responsiveness at all times.These borders, which played a significant security role over decades, constitute an Achilles heel for this large sick body today. So how can we ensure a management adapted to the imperatives of the century? Modern technical means are needed, in particular drones, helicopters, night surveillance goggles sitting on an Advanced Warning System. A system that combines people, processes and technologies in new ways to help safeguard the integrity of the territory, the security of cross-border trade, the passage of citizens while promoting economic stability and growth.In addition, the use of techniques has shown their prowess in the integrated management of the EU's borders and in other countries such as Morocco remains the ideal solution to deal with arbitrary incursions and aggressions on Congolese territory. Because the principle of the inviolability of borders is simply ignored by those who swear by the illegal exploitation of the resources of the DRC's soil and subsoil.
Author Keywords: Intangibility of borders, DRC, strategic value, foreign armies, 9 neighboring countries, natural resources.
Volume 53, Issue 1, February 2021, Pages 40–49
Scheel Mutombo Kianga1
1 Master’s student in International Relations, University of International Business and Economic, Beijing, China
Original language: French
Copyright © 2021 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
The present article analyzes the strategic value of the Democratic Republic of Congo borders. During the second republic, the personal equation of the statesman, President Joseph Mobutu in this case, based on strategic border management made the country shine in the sub-region. Its fall resulted in a substantial erosion of the role that borders played in safeguarding peace, territorial integrity and the protection of the population. In other words, over the past two decades, border management services have faced challenges of a new nature. Globalization and the threat of terrorism, rebel groups, criminal gangs and even the national armies of neighboring countries have transformed the situation by creating a climate which demands high performance and optimal responsiveness at all times.These borders, which played a significant security role over decades, constitute an Achilles heel for this large sick body today. So how can we ensure a management adapted to the imperatives of the century? Modern technical means are needed, in particular drones, helicopters, night surveillance goggles sitting on an Advanced Warning System. A system that combines people, processes and technologies in new ways to help safeguard the integrity of the territory, the security of cross-border trade, the passage of citizens while promoting economic stability and growth.In addition, the use of techniques has shown their prowess in the integrated management of the EU's borders and in other countries such as Morocco remains the ideal solution to deal with arbitrary incursions and aggressions on Congolese territory. Because the principle of the inviolability of borders is simply ignored by those who swear by the illegal exploitation of the resources of the DRC's soil and subsoil.
Author Keywords: Intangibility of borders, DRC, strategic value, foreign armies, 9 neighboring countries, natural resources.
Abstract: (french)
Cet article s’est proposé de faire une analyse sur la valeur stratégique des frontières de la République Démocratique du Congo. Lors de la deuxième république, l’équation personnelle de l’homme d’Etat, Président Joseph Mobutu en l’occurrence, assise sur une gestion stratégique des frontières a fait rayonner le pays dans la sous-région. Sa chute a entrainé un amenuisement substantiel du rôle que les frontières jouaient dans la sauvegarde de la paix, de l’intégrité du territoire et de la protection de la population. C’est dire qu’au cours de deux dernières décennies, les services chargés de la gestion des frontières sont confrontés à des défis d’une nouvelle nature. La mondialisation et la menace du terrorisme, des groupes rebelles, des bandes criminelles voire les armées nationales des pays limitrophes ont transformé la donne en créant un climat qui exige des performances élevées et une réactivité optimale à tout moment.Ces frontières qui ont joué un rôle significatif sur le plan sécuritaire hier, constituent un talon d’Achille pour ce grand corps malade aujourd’hui. Alors comment en assurer une gestion adaptée aux impératifs du siècle ? Il faut des moyens techniques modernes notamment des drones, des hélicoptères et les lunettes de surveillance nocturne entre autres, assis sur un Système d’Alerte Avancée. Un système qui associe des personnes, des processus et des technologies de façon inédite pour permettre de sauvegarder l’intégrité du territoire, la sécurité du commerce transfrontalier, le passage des citoyens tout en promouvant la stabilité et la croissance économiques.L’usage des techniques ont montré leurs prouesses dans la gestion intégrée des frontières de l’Union Européenne (UE) et dans d’autres pays comme le Maroc demeure la solution idéale pour faire face à des incursions arbitraires et agressions du territoire congolais. Car le principe de l’intangibilité des frontières est simplement ignoré par ceux qui ne jurent que par l’exploitation illégale des ressources du sol et du sous-sol de la RDC.
Author Keywords: Intangibilité des frontières, RDC, valeur stratégique, armées étrangères, 9 pays voisins, ressources naturelles.
How to Cite this Article
Scheel Mutombo Kianga, “Diminishing the strategic value of the Democratic Republic of Congo borders in Africa: Advocacy for the use of technological equipment,” International Journal of Innovation and Scientific Research, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 40–49, February 2021.
