Minerals at the Negotiating Table: Resource Politics and Peace in Eastern DRC

Jul 15, 2026 | Julian Neef
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The United States brokered a strategic partnership deal with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in December 2025, co-signing a DRC–Rwanda peace agreement on the same day. Whether a mediator with a strategic interest can also be neutral is a question the Washington Peace Accords have yet to answer. Critical minerals are no longer a backdrop to negotiations in eastern DRC but they are increasingly the point of concern. Yet understanding their role requires looking beyond the well-worn „conflict minerals“ narrative and asking a harder question: whose resource interests are actually shaping the path to a negotiated settlement?