{"id":132888,"date":"2026-03-12T16:16:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T14:16:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.refract-psp.be\/?p=132888"},"modified":"2026-03-12T16:34:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T14:34:51","slug":"rapport-en-anglais-escalation-and-restraint-in-conflicts-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.refract-psp.be\/fr\/blog\/2026\/03\/12\/rapport-en-anglais-escalation-and-restraint-in-conflicts-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo\/","title":{"rendered":"Rapport [en anglais] : Escalation and Restraint in Conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row row_height_percent=\u00a0\u00bb0″ override_padding=\u00a0\u00bbyes\u00a0\u00bb h_padding=\u00a0\u00bb2″ top_padding=\u00a0\u00bb5″ bottom_padding=\u00a0\u00bb3″ overlay_alpha=\u00a0\u00bb100″ gutter_size=\u00a0\u00bb3″ column_width_percent=\u00a0\u00bb100″ shift_y=\u00a0\u00bb0″ z_index=\u00a0\u00bb0″ row_height_use_pixel=\u00a0\u00bb\u00a0\u00bb][vc_column column_width_use_pixel=\u00a0\u00bbyes\u00a0\u00bb gutter_size=\u00a0\u00bb3″ overlay_alpha=\u00a0\u00bb50″ shift_x=\u00a0\u00bb0″ shift_y=\u00a0\u00bb0″ medium_width=\u00a0\u00bb0″ zoom_width=\u00a0\u00bb0″ zoom_height=\u00a0\u00bb0″ column_width_pixel=\u00a0\u00bb800″][vc_custom_heading text_color=\u00a0\u00bbcolor-vyce\u00a0\u00bb uncode_shortcode_id=\u00a0\u00bb326845″ text_color_type=\u00a0\u00bbuncode-palette\u00a0\u00bb subheading=\u00a0\u00bbRapport conjoint Ebuteli et ReFrACT \u00ab\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Escalation and Restraint in Conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo<\/h2>\n

[\/vc_custom_heading][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_height_percent=\u00a0\u00bb0″ override_padding=\u00a0\u00bbyes\u00a0\u00bb h_padding=\u00a0\u00bb2″ top_padding=\u00a0\u00bb0″ bottom_padding=\u00a0\u00bb0″ overlay_alpha=\u00a0\u00bb100″ gutter_size=\u00a0\u00bb3″ column_width_percent=\u00a0\u00bb100″ shift_y=\u00a0\u00bb0″ z_index=\u00a0\u00bb0″ row_height_use_pixel=\u00a0\u00bb\u00a0\u00bb][vc_column column_width_use_pixel=\u00a0\u00bbyes\u00a0\u00bb gutter_size=\u00a0\u00bb3″ overlay_alpha=\u00a0\u00bb50″ shift_x=\u00a0\u00bb0″ shift_y=\u00a0\u00bb0″ medium_width=\u00a0\u00bb0″ zoom_width=\u00a0\u00bb0″ zoom_height=\u00a0\u00bb0″ width=\u00a0\u00bb5\/6″][vc_single_image media=\u00a0\u00bb132889″ media_width_percent=\u00a0\u00bb58″ alignment=\u00a0\u00bbcenter\u00a0\u00bb media_title_uppercase=\u00a0\u00bb\u00a0\u00bb uncode_shortcode_id=\u00a0\u00bb196954″ media_link=\u00a0\u00bburl:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.refract-psp.be%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F5%2F2026%2F03%2Frapport-ebuteli-refract-escalation-restraint-conflitcts-rdc-english-version.pdf|target:_blank\u00a0\u00bb][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_height_percent=\u00a0\u00bb0″ override_padding=\u00a0\u00bbyes\u00a0\u00bb h_padding=\u00a0\u00bb2″ top_padding=\u00a0\u00bb3″ bottom_padding=\u00a0\u00bb2″ overlay_alpha=\u00a0\u00bb100″ gutter_size=\u00a0\u00bb3″ column_width_percent=\u00a0\u00bb100″ shift_y=\u00a0\u00bb0″ z_index=\u00a0\u00bb0″ content_parallax=\u00a0\u00bb0″ row_height_use_pixel=\u00a0\u00bb\u00a0\u00bb uncode_shortcode_id=\u00a0\u00bb335511″][vc_column column_width_use_pixel=\u00a0\u00bbyes\u00a0\u00bb gutter_size=\u00a0\u00bb3″ overlay_alpha=\u00a0\u00bb50″ shift_x=\u00a0\u00bb0″ shift_y=\u00a0\u00bb0″ medium_width=\u00a0\u00bb0″ zoom_width=\u00a0\u00bb0″ zoom_height=\u00a0\u00bb0″ column_width_pixel=\u00a0\u00bb800″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=\u00a0\u00bb770043″]Executive summary<\/strong>
\nSince mass violence broke out in the Democratic Republic of the Congo thirty years ago, various theories have been put forward to explain the conflict and to find ways to stop it. Some have emphasized minerals; others have placed the onus on the weakness of Congolese state institutions or on meddling by its neighbors. This report serves as a summary of and intervention into this debate as conflict continues to escalate. We make two main points. First, we argue that more attention needs to be paid to restraint, focusing on places and moments when conflict has been ratcheted down, as well as on escalation. This leads us to our second point \u2014 that conflict cannot be explained by a single cause. Instead, escalation and restraint emerge from the interaction of political, economic, social, and historical factors. We argue that structural conditions \u2014 such as state weakness, unresolved land disputes, elite manipulation, and the legacy of past wars \u2014 shape how local triggers ignite into wider crises.
\nThe case of Ituri illustrates these dynamics. Between 1999 and 2005, conflict intensified as foreign armies, ethnic militias, and shifting alliances between Uganda, Rwanda, and Kinshasa converged in the province. A long period of relative stability followed, supported by military pressure, demobilization programs, and local peacebuilding efforts. Yet structural inequalities and unresolved historical resentments allowed violence to resurface in 2017 with the rise of CODECO, whose decentralized organization and spiritual mobilization made de escalation difficult. This account of escalation and restraint suggests that these phenomena cannot be conceived as separate from broader conflict dynamics \u2014 interventions such as early warning systems, human rights training, and communal reconciliation projects\u00a0 will have little lasting impact if they are not connected to national and regional frameworks. We conclude that what is above all needed is a national peace process, a framework that can link local peacebuilding to national political processes, strengthen institutions, and bring an end to foreign meddling in domestic conflicts.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_height_percent=\u00a0\u00bb0″ override_padding=\u00a0\u00bbyes\u00a0\u00bb h_padding=\u00a0\u00bb2″ top_padding=\u00a0\u00bb2″ bottom_padding=\u00a0\u00bb4″ overlay_alpha=\u00a0\u00bb50″ gutter_size=\u00a0\u00bb3″ column_width_percent=\u00a0\u00bb100″ shift_y=\u00a0\u00bb0″ z_index=\u00a0\u00bb0″ content_parallax=\u00a0\u00bb0″ uncode_shortcode_id=\u00a0\u00bb191368″][vc_column width=\u00a0\u00bb1\/1″][vc_icon position=\u00a0\u00bbleft\u00a0\u00bb icon=\u00a0\u00bbfa fa-angle-right\u00a0\u00bb icon_color=\u00a0\u00bbcolor-vyce\u00a0\u00bb size=\u00a0\u00bbfa-2x\u00a0\u00bb text_weight=\u00a0\u00bb100″ linked_title=\u00a0\u00bbyes\u00a0\u00bb add_margin=\u00a0\u00bbyes\u00a0\u00bb uncode_shortcode_id=\u00a0\u00bb190576″ icon_color_type=\u00a0\u00bbuncode-palette\u00a0\u00bb title=\u00a0\u00bbT\u00e9l\u00e9chargez le rapport\u00a0\u00bb link=\u00a0\u00bburl:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.refract-psp.be%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F5%2F2026%2F03%2Frapport-ebuteli-refract-escalation-restraint-conflitcts-rdc-english-version.pdf|title:%C3%89v%C3%A9nement%20REFRACT-%20%C2%AB%20Les%20dynamiques%20d%E2%80%99escalade%20et%20de%20retenue%20de%20la%20violence%20dans%20l%E2%80%99est%20de%20la%20RDC%20%C2%BB%2027%20f%C3%A9vrier%202026|target:_blank\u00a0\u00bb][\/vc_icon][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Rapport en anglais] Since mass violence broke out in the Democratic Republic of the Congo thirty years ago, various theories have been put forward to explain the conflict and to find ways to stop it. Some have emphasized minerals; others have placed the onus on the weakness of Congolese state institutions or on meddling by its neighbors. This report serves as a summary of and intervention into this debate as conflict continues to escalate. We make two main points. First, we argue that more attention needs to be paid to restraint, focusing on places and moments when conflict has been ratcheted down, as well as on escalation. This leads us to our second point \u2014 that conflict cannot be explained by a single cause. Instead, escalation and restraint emerge from the interaction of political, economic, social, and historical factors. We argue that structural conditions \u2014 such as state weakness, unresolved land disputes, elite manipulation, and the legacy of past wars \u2014 shape how local triggers ignite into wider crises.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":132891,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-refract-publications"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.refract-psp.be\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.refract-psp.be\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.refract-psp.be\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.refract-psp.be\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.refract-psp.be\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132888"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.refract-psp.be\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132900,"href":"https:\/\/www.refract-psp.be\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132888\/revisions\/132900"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.refract-psp.be\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.refract-psp.be\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.refract-psp.be\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.refract-psp.be\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}