The Promise of Peace: UNSC 2098 and 2147 and the Protection of Congolese Civilians

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (hereafter, the DRC, DR Congo, or “Congo”) remains home to one of the largest humanitarian crises since the Second World War. As the largest and longest-running UN peacekeeping force in the organization’s history, the UN Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO) boasts a civilian protection record characterized by limited success. During the late 1990s, a series of peacekeeping failures inspired a series of scholarly critiques and UN reforms. International political will coalesced around the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). MONUSCO represents a test case for the operationalization of R2P. This paper analyzes UN Security Council Resolutions 2098 and 2147 and their impact on MONUSCO’s capacity to protect civilians in eastern DRC. Drawing on interviews with UN personnel and Congolese civilians, the paper constructs a case for the limited operational success of UNSC 2098 on measures of civilian protection