International Conflict That Starts in Your Pocket

It is the deadliest conflict since World War II, the epicentre has been called the "rape capital of the world," and it has produced a long list of accused before the International Criminal Court charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. It is a far away conflict in a far away land. But unbeknownst to many readers, it's also in your pocket.

You can take out your cell phone now, open up its web browser and type in "congo coltan" to see how Google finishes the search. The first three search options it gave me ended with "mining," "war," or "conflict."

A plethora of factors exists for the fighting and suffering in the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, one factor that keeps fuelling conflict between warlords and governments (foreign and domestic) is the prospect of enrichment. The DRC may have placed dead last in the 2011 UN Human Development Index, but mineral deposits make it one of the richest places on earth. Valued at $24 trillion, Congolese mineral deposits are invaluable to the production of basic electronics, like the cell phone in your pocket and laptop in front of you.

Minerals -- in particular tin, tantalum (coltan), and tungsten -- are mined in conditions no cell-phone user would ever tolerate in his home country. They are smuggled out of the DRC, often by paying bribes, where they take up their anonymous places in the lucrative global supply chain, perpetuating a cycle of killing, devastation, and corruption at home.