In this essay I will contend that the state failure in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo hereafter) can best be explained by local level analysis. I will claim that identifying the governance structures left behind by the DR Congo’s colonial legacy explains why the local level of analysis is better suited for explaining the DR Congo’s continued fragility. I will discuss the failures and successes of both the local and national level of analyses in explaining the actions of Mobutu (ruled 1965-1997) and Joseph Kabila (2001- Current). The comparison of the effectiveness of these levels of analyses will support the idea that the local level of analysis is more effective at explaining the state’s failure. The DR Congo’s colonial legacy …show more content…
A lack of allegiance between the periphery and the central government created a huge opportunity for additional actors to make up the need being experienced by the rural population. Warlords, who offered public services, even if minimal, could now challenge the sovereignty of the central government. As Kaplan (2007, 300) cited in Bestwick (334) claims, there should be an emphasis on the DR Congo’s “political geography, limited governance capacities, dearth of infrastructure, and abundant mineral wealth.” The Congolese government fails to protect or support the majority of the people within its borders due to localized threats. The inability to quell these rebellions is illustrative of the need to look beyond the national level to fully understand the sources of DR Congo’s failure. The government’s weakness is leading different internal actors to fight over land ownership and possession of resources because there is no monopoly of violence. As Austessere argues, “local agendas are driving conflicts” (___). An example of this is the Congolese …show more content…
At times, this protection of personal power involves purposively going against the best interests of the populace and even the state as a whole. Joseph Kabila’s rule in the DR Congo serves as an excellent example. Kabila’s government both “hamstring[s] its own security apparatus and [fuels] armed groups in the country’s eastern region” (9). From a national level of analysis this would not seem like the actions of a rational actor. Conversely, the local level of analysis shows that Kabila is undermining his government in order to set up patronage networks to protect himself by minimizing the possibility of an influential official that has been hired based on skill. Similar logic applies to the arming of armed
Congo was an astounding bestseller novel. It was a great fictional novel that took place in the depths of the Congo rainforest. The novel was later made into a movie. Both the novel and the movie were good, however, I prefer the novel. It just seemed like a more entertaining piece than the movie. This movie was based much upon the novel, but had many alternatives and a completely different ending than the novel.
The book mainly chronicles the efforts of King Leopold II of Belgium which is to make the Congo into a colonial empire. During the period that the European powers were carving up Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium seized for himself the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding the Congo River.
King Leopold’s Ghost is a historical analysis by Adam Hochschild, professor at Berkley, of Belgium’s King Leopold II’s orchestration of a private empire in the Congo at the end of the 1800s. During this particular time in history, the great political powers in the world set their eyes upon Africa as a prospect for exploration, annexation and exploitation. In King Leopold’s Ghost, Hochschild recounts the great human cost of Belgium’s imperial effort, and the willingness of the world to turn a blind eye to the blatant terrorization of a people. This book is an account of the atrocities which took place in the Congo at the bidding of King Leopold II, why they happened, why they did not stop, and most importantly why no one remembers what happened to those unfortunate peoples of the Congo as a result of imperialism and globalization.
After learning of Lord Stanley’s expedition through the Congo, and his offer to work for any interested nation King Leopold saw an opening for Belgium in the Congo. Having an interest in acquiring wealth and increasing Belgium...
One can easily note the physical and sexual violence brought upon the people (black and white) of Congo after independence, but we must locate the other forms of violence in order to bring the entire story of Patrice Lumumba to light. The director’s attempt at bringing the story of Patrice Lumumba to the “silver screen” had political intentions.
Vanthemsche, Guy. The Historiography of Belgian Colonialism in the Congo. Pisa: Pisa University Press, 2006.
...erpetrators. This sort of weakness in their government is what ruins attempts to prevent atrocities and protect civilians. With this much to fix on their plate, they need to start getting help from other countries and providing help of their own in order to fix the state it’s gotten into and help its people. Because they mistreated the M23 rebels and did not stick to the promises that they made in the peace treaty, they caused them to rebel again and intern damned their people. With a suffering army and government state they are useless in stopping the rebels. The Congolese government needs to get help with from neighboring countries in order to fix some of their piling problems. They need to start assisting the groups that are helping their civilians dealing with the violence and charging those perpetrators responsible for the heinous acts against the population.
As a political figure, King Leopold of Belgium had minimal power, yet he acknowledged the political and financial advantages of colonization, and acquired the Congo as a private colony whereas Britain snatched up colonies globally, including the “crown jewel” of all colonies, India. Belgium and Britain demonstrated a stark contradiction of two opposing methods of colonization. These two countries methods’ of domination ultimately decided the fates of each party, ...
At The top of society was a small group of Europeans. Rubber agents and other government officers controlled every aspect of life in The State. They even held control over when natives could visit family. (Doyle, 1909) These Europeans had a section of land that they were to supervise and oversee the production of goods. In Belgium, a very selective group of people had control over the region with King Leopold II at the top. He had the final say in all policy of The Congo Free State. Although he held this power, most of the decision making was sub-contracted to government owned companies, such as The Anglo-Belgian Indian Rubber
... attention allowed economic exploitation in the Congo and its people devastated by human rights abuses, and even today the lack of international attention has caused many conflicts in and around the Congo. The economic exploitation of the Congo during colonial times robbed the country of wealth which could have been used to develop the land, and the lack of wealth has contributed to Congo’s poor standing in the world today. Lastly, the human rights abuses in the Congo Free State contributed to economic and political troubles during the colonial period and has continued into the present day, as human rights abuses are still prevalent in that region of Africa. Due to the lack of international attention, economic exploitation, and human rights abuses, the Congo Free State was harmful to the Congo region of Africa and its legacy continues to harm that region of Africa.
When Congo gained its independence from Belgium it struggled to develop and remained a weak state. There were many factors that led to Congo being unable to progress and create strong institutions within its countries borders. “Political divisions along the ethnic lines were prevalent, though this fact could be misleading. Ethnicity became the primary source of political mobilization i...
Congo's Civil War began on November 2nd, 1998 when Laurent Kabila tried to drive out Rwandan militants who helped him overthrow Mobutu Sese Seko.2 Sese Seko came into power in 1966 when he led a rebellion to overthrow the government of Patrice Lumumbra. Sese Seko led to Africanizing of the country by requiring that all citizens drop their Christan names, and by renaming all the geographical locations with more African names.3 During the 1980's Sese Seko's government received support from the United States, in response to communism's rising popularity in Africa. Because of the misuse of the funds and wealth generated by natural resources, the rich got richer and the poor fell farther into poverty. Sese Seko abused Congo's natural resources and eventually helped lead the country into a state of economic ruin. In 1997 Sese Seko was overthrown by Laurent Kabila. When Kabila took over the country it was in terrible condition but he did nothing to try and improve the state of the nation. When he tried to expel the same Rwandan rebels that helped him come to power, he started a war that eventually led to his death. Many various ethnic and rebel groups inside of Congo who relied on the Rwandans for protection joined the uprising.4 Africans inside and around Congo chose s...
Over a period from 1960-1965, the first Republic of the Congo experienced a period of serious crisis. There was a terrible war for power that displayed senseless violence and the desperation to rule. There were many internal conflicts among the people. The country eventually gained independence from Belgium. For many countries this would be a time for celebration. Unfortunately for the people of the Congo this became a time to forget. Almost immediately after independence and the general elections, the country went into civil war. Major developed cities like Katanga and Kasai wanted to be independent from the Lumumba government. Different factions started to fight the government and Katanga and Kasai tried to secede from the rest of the country out of fear of the mutinous army that was out of control looting and killing.
As Marlow passes through the waters of the Congo, it is easily visible the trouble of the natives. “Black shapes crouched, lay, sat between the trees, leaning against the trunks, clinging to the earth half coming out, half effaced with the dim light, in all the attitudes of pain, abandonment, and despair.” (20) Show that the holding of these colonies has started. The soldiers have come in and taken the inhabitants and are destroying them and taking from them the one thing they deserve over everything, life. The imperialists seem to not care about the Africans and are just there for their land.
At the height of the conflict, about one third of the country's people were displaced. The chronic financial crisis became severe and the economy was close to collapsing. Poverty has become deeper in the rural areas of the Congo where poor people are now powerless, vulnerable and isolated. This is a big contributor to the poverty Congo is experiencing today, because little has improved and won’t improve until these problems are fixed. Overall, Central Africa’s dependence on agriculture could improve the wellbeing of the people but a long history of corruption, violence, and prevalent transportation issues have hindered an improvement in the economy resulting in poverty in the region.