Failure to End the Kivu Conflict

A long conflict has been going on in the Kivu region of Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Today, in its later stages, the conflict has become an amalgamation of insurgencies by the former Rwanda Armed Forces (FAR) and genocidal forces under the umbrella of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), fighting to overthrow the Government of Rwanda, a multitude of Congolese militias, insurgents and renegade Congolese soldiers, and bandits fighting for varying causes. Rwanda, on the other side of the border, the country recovering from its horrible past of conflict and genocide, has always been wary of these negative forces a few miles from its Western Province, seeing it as a powder keg waiting to explode and upset the current development strategies taken. All stakeholders seem to be aware that this conflict is a big sore in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, but have failed to end it. This thesis will show that as long as this conflict in North and South Kivu Provinces of the DRC is not resolved, the political, military, security, and economic stability of Rwanda will be at risk. It will also recommend some possible solutions to ending this persistent conflict.