EXTERNAL MILITARY INTERVENTION IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO CRISIS: IMPLICATION FOR THE GREATER LAKE REGION

EXTERNAL MILITARY INTERVENTION IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO CRISIS: IMPLICATION FOR THE GREATER LAKE REGION

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

The ongoing conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where up to 6 million excess deaths have been recorded since 1998 and government neither controls nor governs its territory in a meaningful sense, is cause for concern to the international community and the United States government. The Democratic Republic of (DRC) Congo is home to more than 60 million people who have suffered profoundly as a result of their state’s collapse and a series of local, national, and international conflicts that began in the early 1990’s and some of which continue until today. In the aftermath of the contentious and contested November 2011 elections, DRC’s future stability and ability to develop are both in question. In the United States, the issue of conflict minerals has