Following the 1994 genocide an estimated two million people fled the country into exile in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The group that fled was comprised of a formidable military force in varying states of combat readiness. Seventeen years after the genocide, its contesting effects still haunts the Great Lakes Region of Africa. Until recently the region has been marred by violence perpetrated in the DRC rural areas by the armed rebel groups from both Rwanda and Uganda. Today the Democratic Forces for Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a rebel group that masterminded the 1994 Tutsi genocide is believed to use vast regional and international networks to bolster their supply of arms, recruit extra soldiers with intention to destabilize Rwanda. The regional arrangements in response to the FDLR's threats have primarily been individual state based. Under the auspices of the UN and African Union (AU), the ICGLR was established in 2006 as a regional organization tailored towards providing sustainable security and development in the GLR. This thesis will show that the ICGLR is not an honest broker; it is an organization comprised of representatives from eleven nations which all have their own national interests to pursue. It will highlight that the ICGLR is not the UN of the GLR and therefore cannot accomplish much due to current structural conditions in the region. It will recommend possible courses of action to address structural issues to make the ICGLR's strategy more effective for sustainable security and economic development to the GLR.

Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)