The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the largest Central African country, and the stability of which largely depends on a peaceful peace in the region. However, for the past 20 years, the DRC has not known peace and has experienced the hardships of wars and various crises. Unfortunately, the problem of resolving the military-political crisis has not been solved here today, and the efforts of the Congolese Government and the international community have not yet yielded tangible results.

According to military experts, including the commander of the military contingent of the UN Stabilization Mission in the DRC Santa Cruz, in the east of the Congo there are about 40 military formations of national and foreign origin, which continue to destabilize the situation in the region. The probability of relapses of armed conflicts remains high. They are nourished by the explicit or latent confrontation of individual ethnic groups, as well as the struggle for sources of mineral raw materials.

G. M. Sidorova 's book " Armed Conflicts in Africa on the example of the Democratic Republic of the Congo "(Moscow, Vostochnaya Literatura, 2013, 399 p.) is a scientific study that examines the historical background of armed conflicts in the DRC, their dynamics and attempts to overcome the crisis, as well as possible ways to resolve crisis situations.

The historical excursion is accompanied by the author's findings from the Congolese National Archives "ARNACO" and the Henry Stanley archive at the Royal Museum of Africa in Belgium. The reader is presented with a wide panorama of the activities of the pioneers of the Congo, who faced insurmountable difficulties in their search for fortune, including tropical diseases unknown to science. Geographers, military men, doctors, sometimes just adventurers and losers who dreamed of enriching themselves or finding happiness in the then unknown African lands, laid the foundation for Belgian colonialism. Africans were ruthlessly exploited on rubber plantations, and those who seemed negligent to their owners were often fatally injured. The history of the colonization of the Congo and the role of the Belgian King Leopold II in these events are widely and thoroughly covered in the book.

Part of the monograph is devoted to the events of the 60s of the last century - one of the most difficult periods of Congolese history. It was then that a new republic appeared on the map of Africa, which, defending its independence, faced a monstrous crime - the murder of its political leader Patrice Lumumba. The book provides new facts of the investigation of the "Lumumba case", tells about the unsuccessful petition of his sons to restore the good memory and name of their father. The monograph reveals the complex process of forming a hierarchy of power with the clan struggle inherent in African society.

The new materials form the basis of the study of the period of the dictatorial regime of Mobutu Sese Seko, who ruled the country for 32 years and led, as a result of thoughtless policies, to its ruin. This section also covers the many problems faced by Soviet diplomats and journalists who worked in Zaire during the Cold War.

The article describes in detail the events of another difficult period in the modern history of the Congo - the decade from 1996 to 2006 - related to the civil war and subsequent events of the military-political conflict. Much attention has been paid to such political figures as Laurent-Désiré Kabila, who was briefly "at the helm of power" and died as a result of a conspiracy, as well as to his son-successor to the post of President of the DRC, Joseph Kabila, who was twice elected in the presidential elections in 2006 and 2011.

Using extensive sources, the author covers in detail the development of democracy, the reform of the army and police in the country. It is a well-reasoned conclusion that the initial models of Western-style democracy often do not justify themselves on the African continent. This is reflected in the immaturity of the political elite, the lack of democratic traditions and practical experience, as well as internal and inter-party tensions on an ethnic basis.

Along with the problems of military and political nature, the study examines national and ethnic issues, analyzes the difficult situation created in the country related to the illegal exploitation of natural resources, as well as human rights.

The topic of international cooperation, an important part of the DRC's policy, is given a worthy place in the monograph. Analyzing this important problem on the example of this country, G. M. Sidorova comes to the conclusion that ensuring the stabilization of the political situation in Central Africa is still, unfortunately, beyond the power of Africans themselves.

In the course of her field research in various provinces of the Congo, the author has collected a large amount of factual material. The paper presents her conversations with political and public figures, as well as with the country's military. Antoine Gizenga, a veteran of the Congo political movement and an associate of Patrice Lumumba, shared his invaluable memories. And there are a lot of similar author's finds in the book.

The topic of armed conflict in Africa is extremely complex and multidimensional. Naturally, it is not possible to reflect all these aspects in one work. Nevertheless, G. M. Sidorova's monograph gives a fairly complete picture of the events taking place in Central Africa, and is a significant contribution to the coverage of the continent's problems. It will undoubtedly be interesting for anyone who is interested in modern Africa and the complex political and social processes taking place there.

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