Peace and Conflict in The Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abstract

This joint research paper was written for an introductory peace studies class. We were asked to devote ourselves to an in-depth study of a conflict in one of five countries. The four of us came together with no knowledge about the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It was an invaluable collaborative experience as we, together, gathered and sifted through the overwhelming amounts of information, posed questions, discussed one another’s writing and edited each other’s assessments of material that we were all attempting to understand. It felt like we were uncovering a new world we hadn't known was our own, growing more and more amazed at how little the United States acknowledges and publicizes about the non-Western world. As the concept of conflict became more and more multifaceted and complex, so did our ideas of what “peace” is and should consist of. The entire project, and course itself, continues to impact us academically and personally; parts of each of us are embedded within this "labor of love", just as it is within us.