What’s keeping Kinshasa and Brazzaville from drifting apart after the Makotipoko clash

The unexpected meeting between Félix Tshisekedi and Denis Sassou Nguesso in Brazzaville last weekend wasn’t just a handshake across the Congo River. Behind closed doors, the two presidents were mapping out a strategy to prevent a single border flare-up from unravelling decades of careful diplomacy.

With hundreds of civilians and soldiers caught in the crossfire at Makotipoko, Kinshasa and Brazzaville faced a rare moment of reckoning—one that forced both capitals to ask the same question: how much cooperation is left before old grievances reopen?