The Trouble with the Congo: Local Violence and the Failure of International Peacebuilding

Summary: (In English and French) Séverine Autesserre is Assistant Professor of Political Science, specializing in international relations and African studies, at Barnard College, Columbia University. She works on civil wars, peace building and peace keeping, humanitarian aid, and African politics. Her last research project focused on local violence and international intervention in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where she has travelled regularly since 2001. Research for this project has appeared in Foreign Affairs, International Organization, Review of African Political Economy, African Studies Review and Journal of Humanitarian Affairs. Her book, The Trouble with the Congo: Local Violence and the Failure of International Peacebuilding, was published in 2010 by Cambridge University Press. Her new research project studies how Western and non-Western cultures influence peacebuilding interventions on the ground.