Story

Russ Feingold in Congo

March 17, 2014 | Pulitzer Center
By
Stuart Reid, for the Pulitzer Center

Russ Feingold stands with his Congolese guide during a gorilla trek. Image by Stuart Reid. Congo, 2014.

On Lake Kivu. Image by Kenny Katombe. Congo, 2014

Russ Feingold consults his advisers on a boat ride on Lake Kivu. Image by Kenny Katombe. Congo, 2014.

Russ Feingold aboard the Kivu Queen. Image by Kenny Katombe. Congo, 2014.

Disembarking the Kivu Queen in Goma. Image by Kenny Katombe. Congo, 2014.

Julien Paluku, the governor of North Kivu province, speaks to the American delegation. Image by Kenny Katombe. Congo, 2014.

Russ Feingold speaks with members of the local media in Goma. Image by Stuart Reid. Congo, 2014.

Russ Feingold greets Martin Kobler, the head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo. Image by Kenny Katombe. Congo, 2014.

Uruguayan peacekeepers relax at the airport in Goma. Image by Kenny Katombe. Congo, 2014.

Russ Feingold gets briefed by Lloyd Dabbs, a U.S. air force officer on detail to the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, and Carlos Alberto Dos Santos Cruz, the commander of the mission. Image by Kenny Katombe. Congo, 2014.

A UN peacekeeping helicopter flies north of Goma. Image by Stuart Reid. Congo, 2014.

Russ Feingold and an aide listen to representatives of nongovernmental organizations in Goma. Image by Kenny Katombe. Congo, 2014.

Russ Feingold returns from meeting with former members of the M23 rebel group at a UN camp in Goma. Image by Kenny Katombe. Congo, 2014.

Russ Feingold inspects a shipping container of confiscated AK-47s at a UN camp in Goma. Image by Kenny Katombe. Congo, 2014.

The U.S. ambassador's residence in Kinshasa. Image by Stuart Reid. Congo, 2014.

Russ Feingold fields questions at a press conference in Kinsahasa. Image by Stuart Reid. Congo, 2014.

In June 2013, Russ Feingold, a former U.S. senator from Wisconsin, was appointed U.S. special envoy to the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Great Lakes. His mission: to end the civil war that has long engulfed the region. Doing diplomacy in a place few Americans can find on a map is an odd career choice for a politician best known for his liberal politics and his decade-long crusade, along with Republican Sen. John McCain, to reform the way politicians raise and spend money. But quietly, Feingold had also established himself as an authority on Africa.

In late January 2014, Feingold led an American delegation across Congo. He met with civil society members, local government officials, human rights researchers and UN peacekeepers. The goal, broadly speaking, was help to get the Congolese government to start acting like a state. Only when the government gains control over, and legitimacy in, eastern Congo will there be a chance for permanent peace.