The UN peacekeeping mission in the DR Congo comes to an end. This happens at a time when the country and especially the eastern provinces are still experiencing violence and armed conflict. Among others, the conflict situation, and the limited success of the UN to keep peace in the country is due to an insufficient understanding of local conflict dynamics within the civilian population. With the UN focussing on the macro level, the root causes of conflicts get out of sight. It is time to reflect on these problems and consider how a different local ownership approach could foster the exit strategy of MONUSCO.
Author: Lucas Steinbach
Lucas Steinbach is studying Security and Terrorism at the University of Kent and was doing his internship with Samantha Ruppel in the research department “Glocal Junctions” where he worked on UN peacekeeping operations and their impact on local conflict dynamics.
