A United Nations Security Council team has arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as rebel forces advance in the country. The team is meeting with president Felix Tshisekedi to discuss ways to protect civilians and create stability in the region. Lots of these efforts are centered around the eastern city of Goma, where M23 rebels have nearly cut off all the roads leading into the city of more than 1 million people. Another rebel group, known as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), has killed more than 1,000 civilians since the beginning of the year. The UN has been involved in peacekeeping operations in the DRC since 1999 .
The UN Security Council is managed by five members. These members are Britain, France, Russia, China, and the USA. As we discussed in class, it only takes one of these nations to vote against deploying UN peacekeeping troops, to stop troops from being deployed. Because of this, peacekeeping troops are often withheld from areas that need them, because of the interests of the 5 member nations. For example, Russia has blocked a vote to establish Peacekeeping troops in Ukraine, and China has blocked votes to place peacekeeping troops in Taiwan. From this, we can assume that the DRC having internal stability aligns with the goals of all of the nations on the board. Perhaps having an ally in the DRC and keeping it as one of the most powerful countries in central Africa aligns with all of the security council nations’ goals.