Congo Basin, a stake in International Relations

A product of the expansion of world capitalism, the Congo Basin, with the Democratic Republic of Congo as its anchor, has been at the center of interests and controversies between the powers since its origins. The issue appeared for the first time during the conquest of Africa by the Western powers of the time. The conflicts between these states over the control of this vast continent, and especially the Congo Basin, led to the Berlin Conference, which proceeded to divide Africa. It was at the end of this international conference held in Berlin from 1884 to 1885 that the international status of the Congo was decreed. The permanence of interests being a first order fact in international relations, the foreign powers ensured the perpetuation of this internationalization regime on this geological scandal even beyond colonization by using this time other methods of exploitation in the framework of multinational capitalism and imperialism. This space has geopolitical factors capable of generating both conflict and development: water, forests and other resources.