Article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11/21/qatari-emir-arrives-in-dr-congo-after-rwanda-visit
The Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani arrived in the DRC following a deal between the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group and the DRC government. The emir was welcomed by the president of the DRC after having spent the previous day in Rwanda, and his visit is a part of a larger effort by the United States and Qatar to establish peace in the Congo’s eastern fold, which continues to face humanitarian crises despite constant agreements. Recent meetings also coincide with relation-building between the DRC and Qatar, with an embassy built in Doha in 2022 and the Qatari mission in Kinshasa, the DRC capital, in May of 2025. Recently, in October, M23 and the DRC reached an deal on the monitoring of an eventual ceasefire, which is a continuation of a previous agreement made in June, in Washington, and another in July, in Doha.
The burgeoning peace deal shows hopeful signs of a true peace, but it’s difficult to ascertain how long such agreements will last, especially when considering the volatility of the eastern Congo. It is interesting to note that Qatar is taking a much more proactive role in facilitating peace and has substantially taken over leadership of peaceful cooperation within the region. Ultimately, Doha stands to gain much both reputation-wise and economically, if they are able to position themselves as a peace broker and partner to growing nations in Africa, and it should not come as a surprise were Qatar to use their stance as a mediator as future legitimacy to prevent occupation.
Tutsis make up the majority of the M23 rebel group, which explains their connection to Rwanda, who is obviously more than happy to arm their ethnic neighbors to revolt, likely in hopes that they may, in the future, request to be annexed into Rwanda. If the given peace deal is successful, the DRC would be able to free its troops and send them to other parts of their eastern border, where rebel groups bring chaos to the countryside. Doha, on the other hand, will be able to highlight another peaceful success, and President Trump is likely to add the combat to his growing list of peace accords.
Intrastate instability is the topic which comes up in this article. However, because of the DRC’s inability to properly deal with the rebel groups, this combat has slowly grown towards interstate instability which almost prods pirates and other malicious actors to run free in the DRC’s eastern jungles. Long story short, if the government does not shore up these holes in their national borders, then they will very well add to the growing list of unstable regions in Africa.
