THE CHALLENGES AND EFFECTS OF VIOLENT CONFLICT ON DEVELOPMENT: A STUDY OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC)
ABSTRACT
The topic under review examined the ‘Challenges and Effects of Violent Conflict on
Development: A Study of the Democratic Republic of Congo’. The Democratic Republic of Congo has been plunged in violent conflict for the last three decades, with catastrophic effects for its development. The contemporary conflicts in the DRC are to an extent a repetition of former conflicts, indicating that the primary causes of the conflict have not been properly tackled. The armed conflict and violence in the DRC has affected tens of thousands of families and has created a growingly pathetic humanitarian situation. Brutal clashes between groups have brought on many consequences for people, killing, wounding and traumatising many, with villages burnt down and fields destroyed, causing a vast displacement of the population. The study therefore revealed that based on the general assessment and analysis in this study, these concurrent conflicts have resulted in reduced life expectancy, high mortality rates, poor literacy and formal education enrollment rates, economic decline and instability, particularly in the eastern region of the country. It has further deepened the DRC’s overdependence on natural resources, and has left the country in a conflict trap. The study suggested that the government must review the peace processes and formulate a blueprint that addresses electoral reforms, better standards of living, equitable and sustainable development, improvement of national security and territorial integrity. This blueprint must give priority to the promotion of national healing and reconciliation, and provide alternatives to violence.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Since the commencement of the contemporary international system in 1991 following the end of the Cold War, several different nations have had varying forms of intra-state conflict which have characterised and changed the course of their history forever. In regions such as West Africa, intra-state conflict is an incredibly noteworthy and cogent part of the collective history. Conflicts such as that of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Mali and Niger have brought immense consequences for all parts of the region (Annan, 2014), and have created intense civil strife. Such instances as the Rwandan genocide, the Somali Civil War, the Yemeni crisis as well as the Central African Republic (CAR) Civil War all demonstrate the variant ways in which violent conflict could present itself and how it can be particularly difficult to end.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has easily become a point of reference for armed and violent conflicts, and the several issues related to ending them. This particular country’s conflict has not only happened and been characterised by different indexes, but has also been fuelled specifically by the presence and actions of powerful figures who would come to change the history of the country forever. The Congo Wars, as they are often termed, have been one of the most economically, socioeconomically and politically devastating conflicts the world has seen since the cessation of the Cold War in 1991, and has been the deadliest conflict on the African continent, as well as globally since the end of the Second World War. To be able to understand the difficulty in ending violent conflict, one must first of all understand fully what violent conflict resembles, and how multilateral it can become.
Starting as early as the 1960s, the Democratic Republic of Congo has experienced waves of conflict which have all varyingly marked its challenging transition from colonial rule to independent leadership. These conflicts took place in the earlier days of Congolese independence as a result of internal differences and controversies among the political elite and a difference in opinion pertaining matters such as whether the state should be centralised or a federation. This period was characterised by strong disharmony and dispute in various forms, largely ethnic and regional. The new state faced widespread instability which was prompted by the unwillingness of its colonial rulers to fully remove their hands from the affairs of the Congo. During the period of the Cold War, the Democratic Republic of Congo was also used as a base to counter the spread of communism on the African continent, making it a stronghold for geopolitics. It goes to show that DRC’s conflict has long had both internal and external dimensions.
The contemporary conflicts in the DRC are to an extent a repetition of former conflicts, indicating that the primary causes of the conflict have not been properly tackled. The armed conflict and violence in the DRC has affected tens of thousands of families and has created a growingly pathetic humanitarian situation. Brutal clashes between groups have brought on many consequences for people, killing, wounding and traumatising many, with villages burnt down and fields destroyed, causing a vast displacement of the population.
The wars in the DRC have several causes revolving around four major factors which are economic, regional, institutional and globally geopolitical. These factors are interconnected and must be viewed as a cluster in understanding the conflict. The generally weak economy played a significant role in the emergence of the conflict. The war erupted in an environment that was ripe for conflict, with such components as deterioration of the macroeconomic climate, the mishandling of public sector, and the decline of the country’s social conditions weakened the state’s capacity to fulfil its basic task of ensuring security in the country, creating space for anti-government sentiments to kickstart a full-scale conflict.
The nature of conflict in the DRC has added to the assumption that conflict has negative implications for socio-economic development. War has often been termed as a development issue (Gates et al., 2012). Internal armed conflict has been the causal factor of a lot of socioeconomic phenomenons around the world such as migration, long-term refugeeism and the destruction of infrastructure. Wars that have taken place in the contemporary era tend to be fought within a state and take on an intra-state nature. In conflicts such as this, the transition from war to peace can be marred for many reasons. Armed conflict that takes place in the post-Cold War era is much more difficult to end. This can be ascribed to a multitude of reasons. Some of these include internal conflicts between communities (Berti, 2016). These internal conflicts create long term disunity which is not easily solved during peace processes, and persists even after the war has ended. These factors make protracted conflict largely detrimental to development and hinder the growth process of a country greatly.
The consequences of war extend far beyond the casualties and direct deaths. Armed conflict naturally creates a wide development gap between the countries that have experienced it and those that have not as political, social and economic institutions are indelibly affected and harmed. Civil wars have a long term effect on civilian suffering (Ghobarah et al., 2003), bringing about a disheveled society, poverty and disability for many. The further burden of death and disability caused by the lingering and long-lasting effects of civil wars is nearly double the immediate and direct effects of these wars. War and violent conflict pose one of the most difficult challenges and impediments to human development. Of the 20 poorest countries in the world, most have recently or continually experienced violent conflict. Violent conflicts and civil wars in particular are development in reverse. When development indicators are dissected along lines of region or group, it is possible to track the consequences that conflict may have on affected areas. Violent conflict in the developing world especially is a critical issue for the twenty-first century as it threatens the livelihoods and futures of millions of people.
The human development index (HDI) of the DRC was worsened and depleted due to the two wars it had within a ten-year period, violent conflict as a result of breakdown in electoral processes, and the conflicts that persist and are birthed after cessation of war due to lack of mitigation and the unsatisfactory conditions in society as well as a radicalised society. For example, between 1998 and 2004 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, an estimated 3.9 million people died from all conflict-related causes of mortality (Coghlan et al., 2006). Frances Stewart (2016) asserts that there is also no denying that conflict has far-reaching negative effects on employment especially. In regards to economic growth, various scholars such as Collier et al. (2003), Stewart et al. (2001) and Fukuda-Parr et al. (2008) found that countries that had experienced waves of violent conflict were adversely affected. The challenges and effects of violent conflict on development are numerous, and very specific as they pertain to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Over the last forty years, there has been a sharp rise in the occurrence of protracted conflict all over the world. Many of these conflicts have come in the form of civil wars and have involved various groups of combatants, conflating it and increasing the possibilities of it becoming protracted. Most civil wars have long term effects regardless of brevity of the actual war and are even more prominent for situations where the war was between various ethnic groups as in the case of Cameroon (Bone, 2019) and Nigeria. Challenges associated with the process of ending violent conflict and especially the effects of protracted conflict on development have garnered much attention over the last four decades and have brought about much discourse in research centres for conflict and development, intergovernmental organisations tasked with maintaining peace and security, and especially for governments and states affected most directly and indirectly by the conflict. However, political scientists and International Relations researchers have only conducted limited systematic research on the challenges and effects of violent conflict on development in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The question on understanding the challenges and effects of violent conflict on development has been one of great difficulty starting with understanding what violent and armed conflict is. Since the 1990s, war and conflict analysts and researchers have battled with how to define and classify different kinds of armed conflict (Angstrom, 2001). The particular case of the DRC has been even more tedious because of a myriad of reasons but largely the ever changing face of the conflict and its protracted nature. In a situation like that of the DRC’s, existing literature on and typologies of conflict show weakness in several fields including logical exhaustiveness, mutual exclusiveness of categories, consistency and neutrality. There is much scholarly debate on which concepts constitute within new wars, intrastate wars, resource conflicts, variants of ethnic conflict, uncivil wars amongst others. The challenges of ending violent conflict are numerous and hard to classify as one, though they are largely interrelated. This is due to the variance of one situation from the other and the specificities associated with each different case. On a larger sphere beyond the Democratic Republic of Congo but especially in its case, protracted conflict is a cogent deterrent of development and causes larger long-term issues for the states in a self-perpetuating cycle. Different scholars have written on the effects of violent conflict on development but gaps still exist within the available literature with a specific focus on the DRC.
It is these prominent issues that the researcher aims to critically examine and proffer workable solutions to at the end of this study.
1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The main objective of this study is to assess the challenge of ending violent conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the effects of protracted violent conflict on development in the country. To assist in the completion of this study, the researcher will achieve the following objectives:
- To understand violent conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- To critically assess the challenge of ending violent conflict.
- To examine the effects of protracted violent conflict on development in the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
- To find ways of ending violent conflict and promoting peace in volatile conflict-ridden areas.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
To aid the completion of the study, the researcher has formulated the following research questions:
- What is violent conflict and how has it affected the Democratic Republic of Congo?
- What are the challenges of ending violent conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo?
- To what extent does protracted conflict affect development in the Democratic Republic of Congo?
- What mechanisms and processes will help in providing a way to end violent conflict and promote peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo?
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study, at its completion, is hoped to be of great relevance to the nations and organisations working towards ending the volatile situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and bringing peace to the country. The study seeks to enumerate the challenges of ending protracted violent conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and will be of utter importance to the department of International Relations and Diplomacy. It will illuminate the field of conflict, conflict resolution and development. It seeks to add to the existing literature on conflict and development. It will be of value to researchers who have an interest in this field and intend to take up research on similar issues and topics. This study also seeks to find out whether theories or conceptual clarifications could be applied or recommended to governments and organisations to improve their tactics in proffering a solution to the problem. Lastly, the study will be of paramount importance to academia, lecturers, students and the general public.
1.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The research methodology precisely explains how data is gathered, analysed and interpreted. Therefore, the role of research methodology cannot be overemphasised. This study’s objectives were to investigate the challenges of ending violent conflict and the effects of protracted conflict on development with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as a case study. To achieve the stated objectives, this study’s information will be derived from secondary data. Contrastingly, the data collected will be analysed through content analysis of documents, articles, academic journals, reports, magazines, statistical bulletins, monographs, books, and related literature relevant to the study of conflict and development. The data will be obtained from libraries, archival sources, internet sources and transcripts of the interviews relevant to research, analysis of news, and documentary recordings of the DRC’s conflict and its impacts on development.
1.7 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The intent of this research project is to identify and examine the challenges of ending violent conflict and the effects of protracted conflict on development. The study was made to cover the Central African country of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). During the course of the research, there were certain factors that limited the scope of the study. Some of these include:
- Availability of Research Materials: The research materials available to the researcher were limited, which sought to hinder the study significantly. This limitation was solved using various internet sources which gave access to a myriad of materials related to the study.
- Time: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance comprehensive and boisterous coverage as a researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations within the research. Considering the limited time given to this study but the researcher will create time and adequate attention needed for the study.
- Distance from Case Study: The researcher found that due to distance from the case study of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), it was difficult to obtain first hand information from nationals and therefore posed a limitation that could hinder the quality of the study. The researcher aims to bridge the gap in this research by contacting knowledgeable scholars in this field of study.
1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Democratic Republic of Congo
Fondly known and referred to by its former name Zaire, the Democratic Republic of Congo is a country in Central Africa with a population of approximately eighty-four million people, making it the most populous Francophone country in the world. DRC as it is often referred to was colonised by Belgium in 1885 following the Berlin Conference, where Africa was shared amongst major European powers. After several decades of colonialism, Congo gained its independence from Belgium on June 30, 1960, and was named the Republic of Zaire.
Conflict
Conflicts can be defined as dynamic situations that are characterised by an intensity which varies with time, according to the phase of the life cycle of the conflict (Swanström & Weissmann, 2005). Conflict refers to the struggle between incompatible or struggling needs, wishes, ideas, interests or people. Conflict arises when individuals or groups encounter goals that both parties cannot obtain satisfactorily. Conflicts begin with an escalation of tension between adversaries which, in the absence of prompt preventative measures and successful dialogue, degenerates into violence and has an incrementally greater effect on the political, social and economic spheres.
Protracted Conflict
Protracted Conflict refers to conflicts that are recognised as intractable. It is a conflict that is prolonged and takes place over a long period of time. It also refers to conflict that may have an inconsistent pattern but are long lasting. They are difficult to manage, analyse and extremely difficult to resolve.
Development
This refers to processes that create growth, progress, positive change or the addition of physical,
economic, environmental, demographic and social components. Development means improvement in a country’s economic and social conditions. More specially, it refers to improvements in the way of managing an area’s natural and human resources in order to create wealth and improve people’s lives. Development is basically an economic concept that has positive connotations; it involves the application of certain economic and technical measures to utilize available resources to instigate economic growth and improve people’s quality of life.
United Nations Organisation
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organisation with the aim of maintaining international peace and security. It was established in 1945 following the end of the Second
World War with the aim of preventing future wars due to the failure of the League of Nations. On 25 June, 1945 the UN Charter was adopted and took effect on 24 October of the same year with the beginning of UN operations. The United Nations headquarters is on international territory in New York City, and has other main offices in The Hague, Nairobi, Vienna and Geneva.
1.9 ORGANISATION OF THE STUDY
This research work is organised in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows:
1.9.1 Chapter One: This chapter is concerned with the introduction, which consists of an overview of the study, historical background, statement of problem, objective of the study, significance of the study, scope and limitations of the study, and the definition of terms.
1.9.2 Chapter Two: This chapter highlights the theoretical framework upon which the study is based on, thus a review of related literature from various scholars.
1.9.3 Chapter Three: The chapter shall examine the challenges of violent conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
1.9.4 Chapter Four: The chapter will analyse the effects of protracted conflict on development in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
1.9.5 Chapter Five: This chapter focuses on the summary, conclusion and recommendations of the study.
THE CHALLENGES AND EFFECTS OF VIOLENT CONFLICT ON DEVELOPMENT: A STUDY OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC)