Description: The US Treasury Department has sanctioned two senior members from the M23 rebel group and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), the Hutu militia fighting against the M23. Commander and chief intelligence officer John Imani Nzenze from the M23 and Gustave Kubwayo from the FDLR were put on the Treasury’s SDN list for inciting further violence, destabilizing large parts of eastern DRC and threatening US interests in the region. US Secretary of Treasury, Scott Bessent, stated that all entities engaged in aggravating the security situation and humanitarian conditions in the country would come under sanctions. The M23 and the FDLR have engaged in continuous clashes despite a US – brokered ceasefire, while the Ebola healthcare crisis in the country further deteriorates the already dire humanitarian conditions.
Impact: In absence of any concrete measures, such as UN or private peacekeeping troops, and lack of diplomatic capital in the country, the US likely resorted to sanctions in order to put additional pressure on the leadership structure on both sides to end the continuous armed conflict. Stability in the mineral – rich east DRC is one of the US foreign policy priorities, however, the lack of hard power measures, interethnic infighting in the country and the long history of grievances would likely present a main impediment to any peaceful resolution to the conflict. DRC’s socio – economic system largely operates in the black and grey economic zones which signals that sanctions are unlikely to work as a measure of political and diplomatic pressure. The healthcare crisis is still ongoing and is likely to be regionally contained in the short to mid – term period. Both sides are likely to exploit the combination of dire humanitarian conditions and instability to reinforce their territorial claims which would likely lead to more armed clashes in the short – term.