Link to article: https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-congo-peacekeepers-monusco-35764b2e37becb8febfbdb313e7b851b
Recently, Congo signed agreements with the United Nations to remove the peacekeepers that had been stationed in Eastern Congo for the past two decades. Congolese leaders claim that despite the peacekeepers’ presence, violence and insecurity persists. The conflict exists due to rebel groups, particularly M23. These armed groups have entered Congo and aggressively searched for and forcefully taken gold and other valuable resources. The Congolese suspect that their neighbor Rwanda is involved as a supporter of M23, but Rwanda has denied the accusation.
During the Rwandan genocide, hundreds of thousands of Tutsi people were killed by extremist Hutu groups. Thus, it is believed that Rwanda supports M23 because the group consists primarily of Congolese Tutsis who are committed to protecting the minority against existing, violent Hutu groups. Should Congo continue to press this accusation against Rwanda, which has continually denied involvement, tension between the two could intensify and conflict may ultimately ensue. This could further damage East Congo, which is already suffering at the hands of the rebel groups. As security could be further breached, alternative methods of peace would have to be conceived and implemented.
In class, we have discussed the theory of neoliberalism. According to this theory, in order for global peace to be achieved, international institutions must be created. Once they are established, they must set and enforce rules and ensure that each state understands their responsibilities. The United Nations serves as an intergovernmental organization, perhaps even the most notable and large scale. However, in this situation, its forces are not able to maintain peace on a relatively small scale when compared to the entire globe. This inspires the question of how neoliberalist thinkers would translate this fallacy to the global scale.