Diplomats around the world worry that a full-blown regional war may not be far off, for already no African war has ever drawn in so many outside nations. But in the longer run, many experts say that the Congo war may become a point of departure from which African nations begin to re-imagine themselves in ways not possible under the old rules of engagement. Wars among nations, largely absent since Africans became independent starting in the 1960's, may become more common. As troubling, many experts say, the national boundary lines that have defined African countries for a century, and lent some stability, may slowly come apart. It's a really dangerous precedent.
Outsiders are concerned too.
Nobody is happy with the borders they have, but nobody wants to open the Pandora's box. Congo is particularly divisible, experts say, because these foreign troops tread on land rich in gold, diamonds, copper, cobalt, oil and timber. So some Africa watchers say that a second and more subdued scramble for Congo, this time involving not Europeans colonists but its own neighbors, is also helping to pull the nation apart. The irony is not lost here in Kisangani. News of major developments in the war come as often from Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, as from Kinshasa, the capital of Congo.