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ix Acknowledgements Africa’s Deadliest Conflict is the third in a series of books coming out of the Department of Political Science at the University of Windsor that deal with the complex intersection of humanitarian crisis and the role played by mass media in prodding the international community toward some form of meaningful action. The first of these, Humanitarian Crises and Intervention (2008), dealt with ten crises in the post–Cold War period of the 1990s, beginning with Liberia and ending with East Timor, and in between examining such humanitarian disasters as Somalia, Angola, Haiti, and Rwanda. The second, The Responsibility to Protect in Darfur (2010), assessed the early impact of the developing “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P) norm on the conflict-beset western region of Sudan. Two of the authors of this book, Professors Soderlund and Briggs, in addition to having focused on international intervention in their PhD dissertations written in the 1960s, were co-authors of both these books. In 2008 they enlisted two former students (one now the head of the department ) to join them in the current undertaking on the Congo. The result was an interesting combination not only of young and old, but of varying approaches to research, and the process of researching and writing the book has been a rewarding learning experience for all involved. In bringing this book to fruition, the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences , under the leadership of Dean Cecil Houston, and the University of Windsor’s research arm, under the leadership of Vice-President Ranjana Bird, have all provided valuable assistance to us along the way, as did students in a graduate course taught by Professors Briggs and Soderlund in the fall of 2009, and one taught by Professor Soderlund in 2011, upon whom were tested a number of our ideas regarding the Congo’s woes. Likewise, commentators and audiences at two 2010 paper panel presentations of material dealing with television coverage of the Congo (the Midwest Political Science Association and the Association for Third World Studies) prompted us to sharpen our arguments on a number of x Acknowledgements key points. Two perceptive reviews commissioned by the publisher led us to make some significant organizational changes which improved the manuscript significantly. James Leahy did a superb job of copy editing. And a special note of thanks to Ryan Chynces, the acquisitions editor at Wilfrid Laurier University Press, for his continued support throughout the project, and to managing editor Rob Kohlmeier who presided over a speedy publication. Thanks go as well to the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences’ Aid to Scholarly Publications Program for its generous grant to Wilfrid Laurier University Press that made it all happen. As with virtually all research we did not begin with a blank page. We are particularly indebted to Filip Reyntjens, who was interviewed in the summer of 2010 by Professor Najem. Insights gleaned from the interview , as well as his key work, The Great African War, are reflected in the following pages. We have also benefited immeasurably from the work of the numerous other scholars, journalists, and practitioners cited throughout the book, which has informed us on such diverse issues as the roots of societal conflict, the Congo’s history, media effects, and the UN’s and the international community’s responsibility to respond to humanitarian crises. In turn, we hope that our efforts will in some way broaden the understanding of an urgent and complex problem and will prompt others to continue in the search for solutions. Please note that all of the views expressed in this book, including any omissions, errors, or oversights, are the responsibility of the authors. Walter C. Soderlund, E. Donald Briggs, Tom Pierre Najem, Blake C. Roberts Windsor, Ontario March 2012 ...

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