The fight for resources. Or another escalation of the conflict in the DR Congo

Fierce fighting has engulfed Congo. It is taking place between government forces and rebels supported by neighboring Rwanda. Co-founder of the Globus expert club Yulia Berg commented on the escalation of the conflict in the DRC on the NTV channel.

“Congo is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of reserves of various kinds of natural resources, including precious stones, rare earth metals. And most of them are exported from there in not the most legal ways. Many of these resources, both stones and rare earth metals, end up in neighboring countries, in Rwanda, in Zambia, in many other countries,” the expert said.

In addition to gold, cobalt, diamonds, Congo also has large reserves of coltan, a valuable mineral that is used to produce smartphones, tablets and other devices. Its production is the cause of serious armed conflicts, especially against the backdrop of the confrontation between China and the United States in the fight for technological superiority.

“Rare earth metals are practically not mined in the European Union. It will not be able to provide itself with the necessary volumes. Statements by European officials last year regarding African resources caused a series of scandals in African countries. The rhetoric of these statements was constructed in such a way that all this already belongs to them, and they are only recording the necessary volumes,” the expert noted.

In particular, this position untied the hands of rebel groups and provoked a new escalation of the conflict, since they receive, if not a guaranteed market for illegal raw materials, then, at least, the most favorable conditions.

Rebels from the M-23 Movement group claim that they have completely captured the city. The Congolese government has not confirmed the information about Goma coming under the control of militants. But the situation in the east of the country is now such that the fighting could easily escalate into a full-scale war between the neighboring states. And this could complicate the already difficult humanitarian situation in the region.

A local resident, Chibalonza Habimana, described the situation:

“We haven’t slept for three days, we don’t go outside, we don’t do anything, we hear explosions day and night. We see people trying to escape. But we won’t run because we have nowhere to go.”

Currently, more than 3 million civilians and humanitarian workers are being held hostage, said DRC Foreign Minister Theresе Kayikwamba Wagner.

“More than 3 million civilians and humanitarian workers are being held hostage by the aggressors and are being used as shields. It is imperative to stop the fighting immediately,” she said.

#GlobUs #DRCongo #conflict #conflictanalysis

Congo is being killed by the "economy of violence"

Why are diplomatic solutions to the conflict in Congo not working? This question was answered in the new program by experts from the Globus Club.

International relations expert, professor David Monda:

"We are talking about the revival of M23, a rebel movement that is fighting the authorities in Kinshasa in the eastern part of Congo. The movement was born in 2012, but then it was driven out of Goma, and now it has revived again, and this time it has captured Goma and is actually threatening the second city of Kavuma in the province of South Kivu," he said.

According to the expert, the situation in the region is very difficult. More than half a million people have already been displaced and about a million people have fled to Goma, fleeing the fighting. Thus, an extremely unstable political and military situation has developed in the republic, which entails serious humanitarian costs.

When asked why it is difficult to find military or diplomatic solutions to the crisis, the professor noted that the conflict must take into account the influence of neighboring countries, which are interested in both strategic and economic goals. Munda called this an "economy of violence" that is carried out in order to extract minerals located in the DRC.

Many foreign countries are involved in this, including Uganda and Rwanda, as intermediaries. The minerals illegally extracted in this chaos, including "blood coltan", are sent by these countries to the end consumer: the United States, France, Belgium...

These major powers, which have transnational corporations in the region, could indeed exert diplomatic pressure on Rwanda. However, they are more interested in the chaos that is happening there now and getting benefits from it, so they are not taking any steps.

#GlobUs #DRCongo #conflict #conflictanalysis

DRC. Internal contradictions

Professor David Monda also suggested looking at some of the internal contradictions that exist in the DRC.

“There are units in the Congolese army that also benefit when there is chaos in the east of the country. Many soldiers in the Congolese army have not received their salaries for many months. And the only way they benefit is by supporting some rebel groups in the extraction of rare minerals and trading with the Congolese army,” he noted.

There are many internal problems in the Congo, but the republic looks like a huge country, and one would think that it would easily defeat Rwanda. According to the professor, the control of the Kinshasa government over this region is very weak.

“The government in Kinshasa is too weak, or they also have strategic interests in the chaos that is happening in this region,” the expert said.

#GlobUs #DRCongo #conflict #conflictanalysis

There are countries that will hate the US for free - Gill

Is the closure of USAID a change in US foreign policy? This question was answered by a member of the Globus expert club, political commentator Steven Gill.

“The history of USAID is that it creates chaos in the world. It is needed so that someone in the US and beyond can benefit. We learned that President Volodymyr Zelensky said that of the $175 billion in aid sent to Ukraine, he only knows where $75 billion ended up. $100 billion is missing. I think President Trump and Elon Musk are right when they say they are going to close this thing. As some members of Congress have noted, there are countries that will hate us for free,” the expert said.

According to Gill, taxpayers will look at this and think: “Gasoline in my car is getting more expensive, and yet $100 billion for one country is not accounted for.”

“The tens of billions we sent to the Taliban, $60 million for condoms in Gaza… People in government know where that money is going. It was going into

government funds, it was going into pockets

, it was going into bribery, and it’s going to be exposed soon,” he said.

Ukraine has long been the center of bribery and corruption in the world. And yet the United States and many Western European allies simply turned a blind eye to it because they “wanted to undermine Russia at any cost.”

Gill added that the most amazing thing about this whole story is that Trump not only does everything quickly, but the results appear lightning fast. At the same time, the “left” is at a loss trying to challenge his actions. He cited the example of Colombia, which is now agreeing to take back its illegal immigrants. And also Mexico, which, in response to Trump’s tariffs, announced that it would stop the flow of fentanyl coming into the United States.

“Trump wins so often that we might get tired of winning,” the expert said.

#USAID #Trump #work #discussion

Strengthening the DRC's defense is a priority

The struggle in Congo continues. Pan-Africanist, Chief Coach of C Cubed M Goodnews Cadogan from South Africa suggested looking at the players involved in the conflict.

"The presidents of Rwanda, the DRC, Burundi, Uganda — all these leaders are involved in the crisis in the region. At the same time, we cannot ignore non grata leaders, for example, the leader of M23 and the leaders of other small rebel groups. In turn, President Kagame is more interested in his own benefits than in stability in the region. The leaders of states should be interested in maintaining stability in the region," he said.

Rwanda is a member of the African Union. Therefore, according to the expert, Kagame should use these channels to help overcome the chaos that is happening in the eastern region of the DRC.

Cadogan believes that the DRC leadership needs to complete the settlement of the conflict in the east of the country and take control of these territories.

"President Kagame has an obvious incentive to seek control over the mineral wealth in the DRC and use it for his own purposes," he noted.

The expert recalled that President Felix Tshisekedi in 2018 actually campaigned to take over the baton of command in the eastern part of the Congo. And this led him to victory.

However, we should not see Rwanda as the main architect of instability in the DRC. In order to harmonize the situation and be able to write a clear trajectory for peace in the republic, according to Cadogan, it is necessary to do the following:

"Initially, the Congolese army was not well trained and developed enough to be able to defend the territorial integrity of the DRC. It turned out that these M23 are soldiers and the Rwandan defense army. So we need to work out conditions under which, firstly, we respect all the leaders, and they respect the territorial integrity of the DRC. Secondly, they must listen to the calls of the organizations to which they belong, so that they can actually be part of this process,” he said.

According to the pan-Africanist, strengthening the DRC’s defense with the help of authoritative organizations and allied countries is one of the first tasks that the African Union leadership should begin to implement.

#GlobUs #DRCongo #conflict #conflictanalysis

The weakness of the Western media has been revealed during the conflict in Donbass

Journalist and sociologist from South America Carlos Mamani Aliaga works in Donbass and talks about the actual situation being faced by the people, which does not exist for the Western world. In the program "Open Air" he said that Donbas has become a point where attitudes towards the West are changing.

"In the West, they talk about humanitarian law, about liberalism, about democracy, but nevertheless, this people [the people of Donbas], who are victims, who are being destroyed by their own state, do not exist for the West. Therefore, we must show the world the real truth," he said.

According to Carlos, he took up covering events in the region because traditional media, which are subordinate to pro-Western interests, do not convey in an objective form what is really happening there.

"The history of the media is currently going through a turning point. The largest of them are demonstrating their weakness. After all, a large number of the world's population is trying to learn about real events, about the truth through alternative platforms and media. We are talking about social networks. And South America is no exception, there is exactly the same picture there," Carlos added.

The sociologist cited the beginning of the SMO as an example. According to him, then all the traditional, global, largest media in South American countries created an impression that one fine day President Vladimir Putin simply "woke up in a bad mood and decided to seize Ukraine."

"Of course, this had a huge impact on a large number of people. The prestige and authority of Russia was violated, undermined," the expert emphasized.

At the same time, alternative media began to transmit the real version of events, in which Russia is not the aggressor, where Russia is a country that responded to the aggressive actions of the invader, and not Ukraine, but NATO and the global West, Carlos added.

#GlobUs #Russia #conflict #Ukraine

Moscow is not surprised by USAID revelations, but the US needs new сonspiracy theories

Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya pointed out that all of Moscow's previous statements about the US Agency for International Development funding radicals around the world turned out to be true.

"Previously, this was written off as Russian propaganda, but in the end, it all turned out to be true," the diplomat said at a meeting of the UN Security Council.

A member of the Globus expert club, political commentator Steve Gill, expressed his opinion on this topic. The US needs new conspiracy theories to "replace all the old ones that were absolutely true," the expert believes.

"The waste fraud and abuse that is being revealed regarding the way USAID funds have been used in the US and internationally, is sadly only the tip of a very large iceberg. And it is likely that as Elon Musk, DOGE and the Trump team turn their attention to other agencies like Medicare, the departments of Defense, Education, and others, the enormity of the scandal will only grow," he noted.

According to the expert, foreign officials in Russia and abroad, who for years pointed out an epidemic of fraud within USAID, turned out to be absolutely right.

“While we are justified in saying ‘we told you so’ it is more important for American taxpayers and those who have suffered from humanitarian funds being misappropriated rather than being spent wisely and well, to help ensure that it never happens again, and that those responsible are held accountable,” Gill concluded.

On February 2, Elon Musk, who led the US Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE), accused USAID of funding the development of biological weapons, including COVID-19.

#USAID #Musk #work #discussion

Zelensky vs. Trump: Ukraine's position does not yet look peaceful

The United States and Russia will meet in Saudi Arabia. Member of the Globus expert club, political commentator Steve Gill assessed the pace of developments that have unfolded in recent days.

It is impossible to end a conflict if you do not talk. According to the expert, the United States has not seen this in the past few years under the Biden administration.

“But under President Trump, we are establishing contacts, and now we are starting a conversation with President Putin and the Russians. I think there is a real path to achieving not only peace, but greater prosperity for all countries involved,” Gill noted.

The irony is that President Zelensky complains about being excluded from these negotiations, while he has legally prohibited himself from negotiating with Russia. In addition, Zelensky contradicts President Trump's position by canceling the elections in Ukraine, Gill believes:

"They are contradicting President Trump by refusing to return the money and ammunition that the United States provided. I think Trump will make a wise decision".

The statements of the Ukrainian president over the past 48 hours do not sound like those of a person who wants to resolve the conflict. He asks for more weapons, shows that he is ready for new attacks. According to the expert, at the moment, the Ukrainian side has not made any positive contribution to advancing the negotiation process.

"The negotiations are just beginning, but I think this is the first step towards resolving not only the military conflict, but also some of the economic and political contradictions that have also complicated the situation over the past few years," Gill concluded.

#GlobUs #Russia #conflict #Ukraine

Europe is not ready to support Kyiv alone

Unprecedented diplomatic efforts have been undertaken in recent days. After the Munich Security Conference, Donald Trump's call to Vladimir Putin, the meeting between Sergey Lavrov and Marco Rubio in Saudi Arabia, the world has come closer to negotiations to resolve the conflict. Is this really so? Political analyst and professor of African history at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania Gnaka Lagoke commented.

"Trump was going to put an end to the conflict in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip. Therefore, the very fact of direct talks with the Russian president is already a significant step forward, which must be appreciated. We are not saying that these negotiations will necessarily lead to success, that Russia, the United States or Ukraine will get everything they want. But the negotiations have begun," the expert said.

Lagoke also commented on what concessions both sides should make.

"The Europeans are offering Russia to leave Donbass, Kherson, and then other territories. Relying on this is simply stupid. What would be the point if, having lost thousands of soldiers, they suddenly retreated only because of Ukraine's demand to respect its territorial integrity? Ukraine must understand that this is the history of mankind, this is the law of the land, the law of war. Ukraine and Europe lost this war," he said.

The expert noted that European leaders were stunned by the results of the Munich security conference. And the rapprochement between Washington and Moscow, the lack of isolation, Russia's diplomatic withdrawal and a certain disappointment of Volodymyr Zelensky regarding his initial aspirations showed that Europe is not ready to act alone in supporting Kyiv.

"I would like the negotiations to be successful, it was very painful for me to see civilians dying. This is also due to Zelensky's arrogance, his stubbornness to believe that he can be the Napoleon of the 21st century. But the real Napoleon failed in the same place where the real Hitler failed - in Russia," Lagoke said.

The expert added that Russia has about 6,000 nuclear weapons and has not yet used any of them. In his opinion, "people should take all these realities into account."

#GlobUs #Russia #conflict #Ukraine

"Russian Political Science": How Historical Truth Shapes Understanding of the Future

The partners of the Globus expert club, the Russian Political Science magazine, have released a new issue. Its pages are dedicated to historical truth.

The publication is filled with stories from Russian and world history, comprehended in articles by experts and researchers.

The main topics of the issue:

🔹History and theory of scientific diplomacy;
🔹Military-political aspects of Russian and world history: reconstruction of events based on archival documents;
🔹Traditional values: history and modernity;
🔹History of socio-political processes in Russia;
🔹Research by young political scientists.

"This issue will be an important contribution to the discussion of how historical truth shapes our understanding of the present and the future," the editors of the magazine note.

#GlobUs #Russia #History #magazine

"Inconvenient" broadcast: whose truth was shown in Donbass

10 years ago, CNN reported that it was Kyiv and the Ukrainian regime that attacked and killed innocent civilians in Donbass. A member of the Globus expert club, political observer Steve Gill, shared a video with his memories of this.

"Then the leadership of the United States and the West advised them to stop telling the truth that they had been hiding for the past 10 years," the expert noted.

In this video, the TV channel's journalists told the story of people who were left homeless and also injured due to shelling by the Ukrainian army.

"The shells hit these houses a few days ago, but the tears are still fresh," CNN journalist Diana Magney said on air.

The broadcast also included comments from Donetsk residents whose lives were broken due to the actions of former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

"This once thriving city is now half empty, its train station bombed. The forces unleashed by this conflict are probably greater than Mr Poroshenko can control," Magney concluded at the time.

#Donetsk #Gill #Poroshenko #truth

Exhibition "Global Transformation: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow"

On February 24, 2025, the Globus expert club launches the digital version of the exhibition "Global Transformation: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow". On this occasion, we are launching a series of publications analyzing the events of the past and present and stimulating reflection on the future.

What patterns can be recorded in the historical events of the recent past, what is their real background?

How does a series of local and global upheavals of the previous and current periods allow us to rebuild the system of international relations so that it meets the real needs of people and strategic humanitarian values?

What sustainable conclusions can be made so that the future develops according to a constructive scenario and takes into account the interests of the global majority?

What risks must be taken into account and what set of values ​​will become decisive at the next stage of human development?

We will try to answer these questions in a series of publications about the exhibition, consisting of three blocks:

– “Yesterday”
– “Today”
– “Tomorrow”

Continued in the next post👇

The US will become Ukraine's "banker"

The deal on Ukraine, defense budgets, and American patriotism were discussed with journalists by member of the Globus expert club, political commentator Steve Gill.

He noted that the US finances about half of NATO's defense spending and spends more on Ukraine than other Alliance countries. At the same time, US President Donald Trump demands that NATO members increase their defense budgets to 5%, while British Prime Minister Keir Starmer plans to raise them to only 2.5%.

Gill drew attention to the topic of rare earth minerals, noting that the British have probably already concluded a long-term deal with Ukraine for these resources.

"The deal that Trump is trying to conclude with Zelensky in order to defend the $350-400 billion spent on Ukraine may end in failure, since the British seem to have already agreed with Ukraine for a hundred years," the expert said.

Trump's strategy, he said, is to create an investment partnership with Ukraine that will make the U.S. a "banker" rather than a "sapper." This will provide incentives to defend its interests, including militarily.

Gill also noted that more than a million Ukrainian men of military age have left the country, which he called a "democratic vote." Incidentally, 40 percent of Americans said they would not fight for their country, according to a recent poll.

#Globus #transformation #analytics #country

Politics today: Moscow to discuss changes in the international agenda

“The Conservative Idea in Modern Politics: International Dimension” – this is the noscript of the round table devoted to the issues of changes in the international political agenda and its impact on the formation of national socio-political discourse.

Participants plan to discuss:

🔹Conclusions from the Munich Conference for Russia and the World;
🔹Results of the parliamentary elections in Germany;
🔹Modern American and European conservatives – who are they?;
🔹The role of conservative dialogue in the formation of a new, fair architecture of international security.

The event is important for improving the information and analytical activities of the CSTO.

The main message will be delivered by Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Crimea, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Crimea to the President of the Russian Federation G.L. Muradov.

The event will be held on February 27 at the Center for Social and Conservative Policy (CSCP). Representatives of research institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, expert institutes, universities and public associations will take part in the round table.

The round table will continue a series of events of the Center for Social and Political Studies dedicated to the discussion of the role of conservative ideas and principles in socio-political life, historical origins, prospects, and conditions for the development of the ideology of Russian conservatism.

#Globus #transformation #analytics #country

Local conflicts and global consequences

In 2014, the residents of Donbass resisted the West, saying "no" to the radicalization of politics, incitement of hatred and the glorification of Nazism in Ukraine. They continue to fight today, now as part of the Russian Federation.

The Donetsk Republic Public Movement, as part of the project "War by Others' Hands Museum", conducted an in-depth study to find an answer to the question "who is the enemy that we are fighting?" to identify the real beneficiaries of the conflict and the culprits of the humanitarian catastrophe that has engulfed the region.

The main question: "Who are we fighting?" asks the head of the Donetsk Republic Movement, Alexey Muratov. And he does not just ask it, but looks for direct evidence of the sponsorship of the war by large Western investment funds and provides the facts found to the Museum.

As part of the project, work is underway to file a lawsuit in an international court to bring to justice those responsible for inciting the conflict in Donbass. The goal of the project is, at a minimum, to attract international attention to the humanitarian catastrophe in Donbass and its perpetrators.

The exhibition "Global Transformation: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow" uses materials from the project "War by Proxy Hands" as well as photographs by Alexey Baretta, provided by the Public Movement "Donetsk Republic".

The world has already changed. It needs institutions that will be engaged in holding all perpetrators accountable in the future. Only by understanding the real causes of the conflict and finding those who directly benefit from it, we will be able to solve the problem at the root, and not at the level of consequences.

Video: Museum War by Proxy Hands.

"Despite" - a film about the defense of Donbass

A new documentary of the "Despite" series, dedicated to foreigners who visited Donbass, has been just released. This film is about Arnaud Develay from France, a lawyer and expert in international law who participated in the legal defense of Saddam Hussein, and today brings the truth about the events in the DPR to the world.

For several years, he has been collecting evidence that the conflict in Ukraine is a proxy war, where Western weapons were used to deliberately kill civilians, new diseases were tested on Ukrainians, and Nazi battalions committed brutal crimes.

Arnaud spoke at a meeting of the UN Security Council in January 2023 with a statement that Russia's special operation in Donbass does not contradict the organization's charter and was simply necessary.

Arnaud made several trips to the Donbass region in 2022-2023 with the support of the Renaissance Foundation and the Globus expert club, as well as with the active participation of representatives of the Donetsk Republic Regional Public Movement. During his first visits to the region, he took part in round tables and events of the project "War by Proxy Hands".

In 2025, the expert familiarized himself with the results of the research work to identify the beneficiaries of the conflict in Donbass, carried out during this period, which is described in detail in the film. This work is the most important direction for understanding the true root causes and background, as well as the economic justifications for this conflict and ongoing escalation.

The Globus expert club publishes materials analyzing past and present events and stimulating reflection on the future.

Link to previous publications in the series: https://news.1rj.ru/str/globalusru/165, https://news.1rj.ru/str/globalusru/160.

Link to the publication-launch of the exhibition "Global Transformation: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow": https://news.1rj.ru/str/globalusru/159.

The documentary was created and released by Editorial SHMEL.

#Globus #Arnaud #analytics #Donbass