The role of external actors in management of internal conflict: a case study of democratic Republic of Congo (1997-2007)

Abstract

The study set out to find out the role of external actors in conflict management in the DRC. It also set to find out the nature and type of actors involved in the DRC conflict and its management. The research had as its final object to inquire into the factors that motivate external actors to participate in DRC conflict.

The research based its findings on both from primary and secondary sources. The primary sources of information included face to face interviews and online interactions. The interviews were conducted using a structured questionnaire and interviewees were from DRC based in Nairobi and others were based their home country. The interviewees corroborated the ideas advanced by scholarly information gathered from secondary data in form of articles, journals, and published works.

The research relied on the theory of conflict research to hypothesize the findings. The theory defines the approach of conflict management by attributing issues to different parties' interests and encourages the process of creating an understanding between each other to resolve the conflict. The theory further considers peace to be attainable through

legitimized post-conflict relationships.

The study finds out that the DRC conflict is as a result of evolution of a war economy that has attracted foreign actors to either mitigate or fight in the territory in order to access scarce resources. What emerged as the dominant trend is that the external actors have intervened in the DRC conflict in order to stabilize the region whose conflict epicenter is the DRC. The stability of the region is important to these actors who seek to pursue economic and trade interests.