Publication

This paper argues that legislative attempts by Europe and the US to deal with the links between mineral extraction and conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) remain inadequate. To support their argument, the paper's authors 1) look at the assumptions that underlie such legislation, which typically fails to capture the realities of the conflict; 2) highlight how a particular piece of legislation – the US Dodd-Frank Act – actually made matters worse in the DRC; and 3) surmise that regulating mineral extraction activities in the country will only work if it becomes part of a wider attempt at peacebuilding.