Christoph N. Vogel

Yes. Read that.

Out now! Summary Report: Workshop on the Geopolitics of Critical Minerals and the AI Supply Chain www.ias.edu/sites/defaul...

The report highlights how AI’s expansion is tied to critical minerals, energy, water, land, and labor—and why interdisciplinary approaches are essential for AI governance.🧵

Last week, the US brokered a peace deal between Congo and Rwanda. As in many previous agreement, the dismantling of the FDLR figures prominently. If you like to dive deeper into why that may prove complicated, have a look at my recent essay about the group…

A true intellectual treat and privilege to participate in this timely workshop convened by @alondra.bsky.social @tcarayannis.bsky.social and Marie-Thérèse Png last week under Albert Einstein’s perennial sights at IAS.

Fighting Fire with Fire in Eastern Congo:The Wazalendo Phenomenon and the Outsourcing of Warfare | Ebuteli This report traces the evolution of the Wazalendo (“patriots”) phenomenon, an eclectic coalition of armed groups which became key allies of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FA...

New report on how the outsourcing of warfare has become an ever more dominant feature of conflict in eastern Congo — with its very own protracted logics but not entirely unlike other theatres of contemporary wars. Read on and download below.

www.ebuteli.org/publications...

Very insightful piece, thank you 🙏🏽

Nonconventional Logistics: Rebellion, Resources and Rationalities in eastern Congo Research on war economies is dominated by positivist paradigms of rationality and epistemic assumptions of alterity. Such frames misread how rebellion…

Right on time for Labour Day, my latest piece of work which investigates the interplay of violent conflict, economic governance and the politics of conflict in eastern Congo through the prism of the FDLR’s “nonconventional logistics”.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Timely piece. Open Doors, some type of a messianic misinformation outlet, has also been instrumental in propagating the 12 February fake massacre of Christians reported from eastern Congo’s Beni area. Happy Easter everyone!

On this day in 2017, Michael J. Sharp and Zaida Catalán were assassinated while investigating war crimes in Congo’s Kasai region. Most people behind this political murder enjoy impunity until today, just as much as others involved in killings in the region for over three decades.

Ali Kony was supposed to succeed his father Joseph Kony at the helm of the LRA. He acted as the LRA's 'foreign affairs minister', but decided to escape.This is a story about Ali, and what the LRA still means today. My article in @newhumanitarian.bsky.social www.thenewhumanitarian.org/feature/2025...

#Germany perfectly aligning with global trends in tonight’s post-election TV shows. Election winners (except one…🌹) agitating in favour of breaking existing international and national law, losers timidly defending it.

Germany — Today is a good day to vote against Nazis, and anyone abetting or supporting them.

Christoph N. Vogel, Intractable Crisis — Sidecar Escalation in the DRC.

“[…] Against this backdrop, the current escalation seems increasingly reminiscent of the turmoil and regional conflagration of the 1990s.”

Written a year ago, where are we now?

newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...

@newleftreview.bsky.social

Thanks for this reminder. If only German voters could go to the ballot with that in mind this weekend…

If you’ve never been there and all you read is the headlines you’d be forgiven for thinking that the DRC is just a basket case but for all its problems - and there are many - Bukavu is really one of the most beautiful places.

In parallel, heavy gunfire was reported inside Uvira this morning and the situation along the RN5 stretch leading northwards towards Kamanyola and Bukavu remains tense. One of Bukavu’s most appreciated police commanders was killed by militia while retreating.

On Saturday evening, the army shortly re-entered the city in view of displaying authority. However, with M23 entering the following morning, no further government troops had been seen in the city center in recent hours.

Parallel to first reports of M23 nearing Bagira neighborhood, FARDC and government authorities retreated. The retreat and parallel non-entry of M23 created a vacuum during which several warehouses and premises were emptied of stocks by civilians and scattered wazalendo.

Since last week, the possibility of an M23 move into Bukavu had led to negotiations in which civil society and church representatives had lobbied the military to avoid any major urban fighting similar to Goma on 28 and 29 January.

Evolutions around Bukavu, including the capture of Kavumu airport around Friday noon, have inspired more people to leave the area, many headed to Bujumbura. There, hundreds of Congolese who have entered legally are currently rounded up for unclear reasons.

This morning, M23 entered #Bukavu and took control of key locations including the governor’s residence and Ruzizi 1 border crossing. Amidst broader confusion, M23 entry had been erroneously reported since Friday night owing to inconclusive videos circulating on social media.

Delegation to the Africa-EU Parliamentary Assembly Ordinary Meeting - Multimedia Centre The multimedia platform of the European Parliament is the official public available repository of the media production of the Secretariat of the European Parliament, managed by the Directorate-General...

Yesterday, I briefed the European Parliament on the escalating crisis in eastern Congo. The session can be streamed here: multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/en/webstream...

Non, le conflit en RDC n’est pas qu’une histoire de « minerais de sang » - Jeune Afrique.com Même si imputer la crise dans l’est du pays à une simple soif pour les ressources minières est séduisant, les médias internationaux, en se contentant de cette version incomplète, nourrissent un terrea...

Version française de notre analyse, avec @judithverweijen.bsky.social, du focus parfois exclusif et malsain sur les ressources naturelles dans la couverture de l’escalade des conflits dans l’est du Congo.

www.jeuneafrique.com/1657155/poli...

Mainstream discourse on conflict in eastern #Congo overemphasizes the role of natural resources. This precludes a more solid and thorough analysis overall. @judithverweijen.bsky.social and I explain how and why 👇🏼

Centre on Armed Groups — The M23 crisis in the DRC

M23’s resurgence is just one piece of a much larger regional crisis.

Centre Fellow @ethuin.bsky.social explains the dynamics at play in the #EasternCongo in our latest rapid insight piece: www.armedgroupscentre.org/m23drc-vogel

Germany wasn’t either.

Heureux d’avoir contribué au dernier article de la toujours excellente @justinebrabant.bsky.social

Sometimes the line between explaining and apologizing can be quite thin.

Constructive points, Tim 🙏🏽

In a new Q&A piece for the Centre, Fellow @ethuin.bsky.social unpacks the complexities of the #M23 conflict and the broader crisis in the #EasternDRC.

Read it here: www.armedgroupscentre.org/m23drc-vogel