UN Demands Rwanda Leave Congo, Extends 'Peacekeeping' Mission
The UN Security Council, with all the gravitas of a strongly worded letter, demands Rwanda cease supporting the M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo and extends its MONUSCO peacekeeping mission. This mission, by the way, has been 'keeping the peace' since 1999—a period marked by continuous conflict, resource extraction, and a death toll estimated in the millions. One might wonder, after
25 years of spectacular failure, what exactly constitutes a 'peacekeeping' success criteria for the UN, or if the actual 'peace' they are keeping is for the illicit resource trade. While condemning Rwanda, the UN's action simultaneously prolongs the presence of its own mission which, according to the Council on Foreign Relations , has consistently struggled to protect civilians or stabilize the
region. It's a classic case of demanding a clear-cut solution from others while maintaining a highly ineffective, yet politically expedient, status quo. How many decades of 'peacekeeping' does it take to acknowledge that the mission itself is part of the problem, or at least a symptom of a deeper, unaddressed geopolitical disease?