Link to article: https://apnews.com/article/africa-rwanda-4facf7e07231955d8c5dea73ab7f7729
On Monday, over 3000 new military recruits began training as apart of the Congolese armies new efforts to combat the M23 rebels that the country alleges are supported by Rwanda. Rwanda has continuously denied supporting M23. The rebel group has recently returned after almost a decade claiming that the government had failed to live up to its promises. The rebels have advanced recently and captured important territory. Peace talks should resume in Kenya next week after the Rwandan representative was expelled from the DRC. North Kivu military spokesman Lt. Gen. Guillaume Djike Kaiko stated that over 3000 people had volunteered to join the militaries efforts against M23.
The rebels believe that their peace deal with the DRC has been broken as the government has failed to uphold its promises. The DRC must take quick action if they wish to stop M23’s expansion. fresh recruits may slow them down, however, these are untrained and inexperienced. Congo must not rely solely on recruits and volunteer forces to stop the rebels. Perhaps, Congo merely wants to slow down the rebels long enough for diplomatic relations to resume and a new agreement made. Much of the DRC people will be against the rebels as they are allegedly backed by Rwanda. They believe that their country is under attack and understand they can rely on no-one but themselves to stop M23.
This relates to our discussion in class on Realist theory, specifically defensive realist theory. Congo is on the defensive, they have not expanded their territory and their military is weak. The rebel group has seen the opportunity and capitalized on it. Congo must ask neighboring nations for military aid. these nations will have the choice to intervene on Congo’s behalf, or choose to support the rebels and possibly lead to territory gain. Or take the most likely path and abstain from getting involved. Simply allow DRC to become weaker and possibly destroyed.