On January 26, a Rwanda-backed militia known as M23 captured the city of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, massive city of two million people and a major regional trading hub. While M23 had been active in the region for quite some time, this move marked a significant escalation in the ongoing conflict. To escalate things further, the group also vowed to march to Kinshasa, DRC’s capital, and overthrow the government.
So who are M23? Why is Rwanda backing them? What may come next in the conflict? And what can be done to de-escalate this crisis? Joining me to answer these questions and many more is Zaynab Hoosen, Africa Analyst at Pangea-Risk in Cape Town, South Africa. We kick off discussing the background to this conflict before having a wider conversation about its current dangerous trajectory.
If you’d like to join future livestreams, including my conversation tomorrow with The Wall Street Journal’s chief foreign affairs correspondent, Yaroslav Trofimov, about the current state of play in Ukraine, be sure to download the Substack app and enable video notifications.
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FYI…For a deeper discussion of the UN’s role in this conflict, including the role of the UN peacekeeping force MONUSCO, check out this week’s episode of our sister podcast, To Save Us From Hell.
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