Efforts by the United States and Qatar to end the decades-long conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have accelerated significantly since late June, building on earlier mediation initiatives led by the African Union, the East African Community, and the Luanda and Nairobi processes. The conflict originated in the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and the current phase of diplomacy was catalyzed by a foundational U.S.-brokered DRC–Rwanda peace accord signed on June 27. In the agreement, the government of Rwanda agrees to withdraw its forces from eastern Congo, and the two sides commit to: ceasing “hostile acts,” disarming and conditionally integrating members of non-state armed groups into the Congolese military, establishing a joint security coordination mechanism, facilitating the safe and voluntary return of displaced populations, and launching a framework for regional economic integration. Efforts to manage armed groups through military integration, if not properly implemented, could threaten to undermine this entire framework.
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Lesley Anne Warner, PhD: Insight | Strategy | Impact 
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