The 20th annual Symposium will be held on Thursday, April 23, 2009.

Why the African Union Should Lead Conflict Resolution Efforts in Congo-Kinshasa
Norris 104, 1:45 PM

Conor  Fitzpatrick,   '11 67
   Major: Political Science
   Hometown: Las Vegas, NV

Sponsor(s): Alfred Pheley, David Eaton, Andrew Grossman
Support:  

Abstract: 
With over five million fatalities in the last decade alone, the conflict in Congo-Kinshasa is a grave humanitarian emergency that appears to generate little international urgency. Since gaining independence from Belgium in 1960, Congo-Kinshasa has yet to experience a period devoid of military, civil, and ethnic strife. Efforts by the United States to foster stability in the 1960’s were ineffective and resulted in the assassination of Congo’s only democratically elected leader, Patrice Lumumba. The United Nations has waged multiple “peacekeeping” missions throughout the decades, yet the situation worsens. Utilizing newly uncovered resources and recently declassified CIA memos, I attempt to dissect the possible reasons for the failure of western intervention in Congolese conflicts. This research addresses not only the tumultuous post-independence power struggle between Patrice Lumumba, Joseph Kasavubu, and Mobutu Sese-Seko, but also the present conflicts between Congolese President Joseph Kabila, rebel Laurent Nkunda’s CNDP, Rwandan FLDR Genocidaires, and the Ugandan LRA.

An interesting path left untraveled is the active involvement of the African Union, which has been largely ignored and underutilized in the Congolese conflict. The AU has shown true promise mediating Togo’s transition from iron-fisted dominance under Gnassingbé Eyadéma to democratic elections and also brokering a peace deal following a 2005 military coup d’état in Mauritania. With proven arbitration skills around the African continent, the African Union should lead conflict resolution efforts in Congo-Kinshasa.

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