Peace or War in East Africa: DR Congo and Rwanda (M23) Negotiations

This class is focused on the recent negotiations and agreement between the Democratic Republic (DR) Congo, Rwanda and the Tutsi-based M23 movement which occupies parts of eastern Congo. After decades of intra-regional and international conflict this agreement reached in Qatar is very welcome. At the same time there is substantial concern that it might not last. There are many reasons for worry. The capitol of Congo is far away in Kinshasa and its military forces have not been effective.  United Nations forces have also been deployed for a long time without major success. The region is loaded with very valuable natural resources including oil, gold, uranium, diamonds and coltan. On top of these factors is generally poor governance and the ISIS-oriented ADF and the Lendu revivalist movement in the Ituri Forest. The talk will conclude with a strong sense of very guarded optimism.

Richard Lobban, Ph.D., professor emeritus of anthropology and African studies at Rhode Island College, serves as adjunct professor of African studies at the Naval War College. He has a master’s degree from Temple University and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University and has taught at the American University in Cairo, Tufts University and Dartmouth College, among others. He has conducted field research in Tunis and Egypt and has been excavating a temple in Sudan for 10 years. Richard is widely published in urban and complex societies, informal sector economy, gender, ethnicity, race and class, especially in the Middle East. He often serves as a subject matter expert and court-appointed expert witness in political asylum cases for refugees from Africa and the Middle East.