A Bad Idea

Writing in the Guardian, Giles Foden says that he sees no option but the creation of a buffer state on the western shores of Lakes Kivu and Tanganyika.

Oy. Well-meaning observers episodically propose carving Africa into its constituent parts as a solution to inter-regional conflict. The problem is that most of these "parts" have their own sub-parts, each with their own internecine rivalries. If Africans were ever to decide to tear up the Berlin Act, the resulting upheaval would make the current anarchy look like a day in the park.

On the other hand, putting the eastern Congo--North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri--under a de facto UN protectorate for a while makes a lot of sense. The goal would be to govern the region, demilitarize it, expel foreign combatants, and put in place processes for the peaceful resolution of outstanding local conflicts, all with the goal of eventually reincorporating the region into a Congo capable of administering it. Obviously, this would require a level of political commitment currently lacking.

I should add that the rest of Foden's analysis is quite good.

MONUC: We're Doing All We Can

With European leaders like Nicholas Sarkozy suggesting that Monuc's forces, properly supplemented, are enough to bring peace to eastern Congo, Monuc yesterday published a press release saying that more than 90 percent of its troops are deployed in the east.

Of the 17,421 peacekeepers constituting its total strength, 6,139 are stationed in insecurity-plagued North Kivu province, or 8 out of a total of 17 battalions. Between 800 and 1,000 troops are deployed in Goma, the provincial capital.

3,513 peacekeepers are deployed in South Kivu, while another 3,769 are operational in Ituri, one of the most volatile regions. The remainder of the Force is scattered across the western part of the DRC, including the Congolese capital, Kinshasa.

MONUC Force Commander, General Babacar Gaye, said that the peacekeepers provide "anchoring points" where people in difficulty can gather to ask for assitance. But he acknowledged that the size of the terrain can make the force seem inadequate to the challenge of protecting everybody.