[1][2][3][4] Paul Cowan presents the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping and their determined, if not desperate efforts to avert a disaster in the Democratic Republic of Congo similar to that of Rwandan.

Since the 1999 to 2002, the United Nations has spent over $6 million USD to keep the peace in the region, but local warlords still continue to use violence as a means of controlling the population, often resulting in entire villages being massacred.

This fragile peace held together from the 2 countries is successful in keeping the conflict at a low level, but links between the troops and local warlords begin to emerge as UN investigators uncover rumours of collusion in the Ituri region.

UN investigators are sent to the area to report on the situation, as rumours of Ugandan troops allowing the massacre to happen makes the UN question whether Uganda has ulterior motives in the region.

[7] Before a French force is able to arrive, Bunia erupts into a war zone among the militants in the region, causing a wave of refugees to flee from the countryside to into the city.

The French are scheduled to leave on September 1, 2003, replacing them is a multinational force of Pakistani, Indian, and Bangladeshi UN troops given their chapter 7 mandate to fight against the local militia.

The instability caused by the First Congo War created the volatile conditions necessary for local warlords vying for control of conflict minerals and as a result, regional power formed from strength of arms and violence.