Unfortunately Congo fits the stereotype of a resource rich, failed-state in conflict with diamonds, oil, rape, and child soldiers to boot. In fact, its even worse that we might imagine–in part because it may not be war, but rather some other type of armed chaos and banditry.
This is not an easy read and won’t make your day better. But its happening. And I think we have a responsibility to be more aware of the recent chapter in this sad national history.
Congo has become a never-ending nightmare, one of the bloodiest conflicts since World War II, with more than five million dead. It seems incomprehensible that the biggest country in sub-Saharan Africa and on paper one of the richest, teeming with copper, diamonds and gold, vast farmlands of spectacular fertility and enough hydropower to light up the continent, is now one of the poorest, most hopeless nations on earth. Unfortunately, there are no promising solutions within grasp, or even within sight.
What can yo do? Get involved with the Enough Project, founded by a former NSC director who recognized that applying public pressure on elected officials can change the US response and make a difference.
I find this extremely interesting because I am taking an African Politics class this semester and the Congo comes up a lot, because of colonization and their current situation. One of the conclusions we have come to is that a lot of their problems come from colonization. It is hard for us to comprehend it from an American viewpoint because we don’t often study Belgium’s colonization, but the Belgians were extremely brutal, and exploited most of their resources, and then just up and left. A lot of their government problems stem from the fact that the natives were all of a sudden left to govern themselves and had no training or familiarity with it all previously. They were also used to violence, so ultimately that is what they resorted to.
Did you read King Leopold’s Ghost? (It sounds like it). Fascinating and terrible history.