Jason K Stearns worked and lived in the Congo for a decade.  His book portrays vivid accounts of victims, perpetrators and eyewitnesses of events preceding of events which preceded the Rwandan genocide of 1994, an indirect cause of both Congolese wars.  Stearns describes in detail not only the political causes of these conflicts but the economic factors to make sense of the “madness” which still lingers in the RDC to this day.  Dancing in the Glory of Monsters is well documented by interviews with heroes, villains and victims of these atrocities.  The book recounts stories within stories, how war made more sense than peace.

Stearns traces quickly the history of the African slave trade and the tribalism it created, the managerial style (or lack of) during the European colonial era and the African quest for independence of the late 1950’s early 1960’s as factors contributing to the African mind set.  The two wars fought primarily fought for control, and/or influence in the eastern Congo involved forty-one players and nine different nations which at any given moment were sometimes allies, sometimes enemies and sometimes both.  For Stearns there isn’t a single cause of the Congolese conflict.  Sexual violence and economic interests proclaimed in thirty second sound bit in the American media were results of the conflict, and in no way caused the conflicts.  It is impossible to simplify the complexity produced by the deep history of Africa, unknown to American audiences.  Little was said about the anti-Tutsi frenzy pervading many events and atrocities occurring or as an indirect cause of some of the worst atrocities.  The Western world didn’t care or couldn’t explain the complexities in a 30 second report on the nightly news.

The first war had been about getting rid of the refugee camps and over-throwing Mobutu.  Congo was a state weakened by the fear of subversion and reliance on the matabiche or envelope.  Governing to stay in power.  The second war was about business – dominance by third party nations, or individuals vying for Congolese minerals.  Coupled with the lack of a civil-minded government contributed a climate where marauding bands of insurgents seeking power and personal wealth through exploitation flourished. 

The world looks for a short-term solution to a very complex African problems.  The story of the Congo is dense, complicated and involves many layers.  From Mobutu to Kabila, Congolese leaders governed to stay in power, not governing for the common good.

I found Dancing in the Glory of Monsters an interesting and worthwhile read simply because it was above and beyond what I read in the newspapers or on TV about Congo since my Peace Corps COS.  I could relate to the tribal mistrust, to the political corruption and graft in every day life and how important the matabiche was make things happen.  Dancing in the Glory of Monsters is a must read for anyone who served in the Congo regardless of your Peace Corps posting site.  Towards the end of the book Stearns quotes Philip Gourevitch “Oh Congo, what a wreck.  It hurts to look and listen.  It hurts to turn away.”