/181-congo

UN Wants to Use #Drones for Peacekeeping Missions
►http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/181-congo/52169-un-wants-to-use-drones-for-peacekeeping-missions.html

The UN peacekeeping department has asked the Security Council to allow the deployment of drones in the DRC to monitor the movement of armed groups. The proposed use of drones is for surveillance purposes only, but the sensitive move has sparked controversy. Concerned states and observers believe that a Council decision on this issue could allow for the drones to be armed, and may authorize the use of force if necessary to protect civilians from potential violence. The US, Britain, France and other Western States argue in favor of their use, saying it is time for the UNDPKO to modernize its peacekeeping methods. Russia, China and many developing states disagree, listing drones as a tool of Western imperialism and private intelligence. In the case of Libya, the Council’s language of “all necessary means” resulted in a resolution broad enough to authorize a NATO air campaign.

RDC Congo Kinshasa Grands lacs Conflit Guerre

The Continuing Trouble with the Congo

Dans l’Est du Congo, la guerre, la guerre et encore la guerre et un interminable calvaire pour la population depuis vingt ans

►http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/181-congo/51808-the-continuing-trouble-with-the-congo-.html

By Séverine Autesserre

African Arguments

August 1, 2012

The DRC hosts the second-largest and second-most expensive United Nations peacekeeping operation in the world. However, this extensive international mission has not brought sustainable peace to the country. This African Arguments article argues that the reason for this failure is that foreign interveners follow a top-down approach. They try to resolve the conflict at the national and international levels while ignoring local tensions that jeopardize the macro-level settlements. Diplomats, donors, and United Nations staff moreover regard intervention at the macro levels as their only legitimate responsibility.