An analysis of the economic dimension of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo with recommendations for track one diplomacy

Abstract

The economic dimension of conflicts has enjoyed increasing attention in research dealing with the dynamics of contemporary conflict. The nexus between natural resources, economics and conflict has played a defining role in a number of Africa’s most intractable conflicts during the 1990s and early 2000s. The underlying assumption of this study is that the economic dimension of conflict can be hugely informative in terms of an understanding as to why peace agreements fail and in that sense can contribute to the resolution of conflicts if taken into account during the formulation of peace agreements. This study explores the ways in which conflict theory has dealt with the conflict-economics nexus, analyzing the extent to which theory illuminates the conflict reality in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during the period August 1998 to August 2004. It determines to what degree peace agreements in the DRC have taken the economic dimension and insights gained from the academic exploration of this topic into account during the negotiation and formulation of these agreements. In conclusion the study proposes a number of recommendations in terms of the peace process in the DRC with possible wider application for other peace agreements.