Rethinking Peace and Conflict

Why do some wars persist despite peace agreements, international intervention, and devastating human suffering?

Rethinking Peace and Conflict examines prolonged violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the African Great Lakes region, connecting community experiences with broader questions of governance, mediation, natural resources, and sustainable peace. Drawing on qualitative research, Guy M. Kagere explores how political exclusion, corruption, weak institutions, and profitable war economies sustain conflict. The book explains how diverted public resources, patronage networks, impunity, and failures of accountability undermine state legitimacy and allow violence to become a durable source of power and income.

The mineral wealth of eastern Congo illustrates how resources that could support development can instead become sources of instability. Competition over mines, mineral taxation, smuggling routes, and trading networks can finance armed groups, reward corrupt officials, and create incentives to prolong insecurity. The book examines how these economic interests complicate peace negotiations and why lasting peace requires accountable resource governance and credible livelihoods. The book also examines religious leadership, including the influence of Catholic bishops in the DRC. It considers how community trust, moral authority, and institutional independence support mediation and reconciliation, while recognizing the risks of political manipulation.

Introducing Conflict Monetization Entrenchment and Profit-Sensitive Ripeness, the book offers frameworks for understanding how economic benefits entrench violence and how changing incentives may create opportunities for negotiation. Its explanation of qualitative research and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis also provides a practical resource for students and researchers. Written for scholars, peacebuilding practitioners, religious leaders, policymakers, and civil society organizations, Rethinking Peace and Conflict brings Congolese experience into a global conversation about transforming conflict and building lasting peace.