What were their comparative living standards pre-revolution? I was under the impression that whilst not great they still exceeded some of their neighbours, although could very well be mistaken. Improving just a bit from a leading start point versus a larger increase but still not being able to catch up isn't much of an achievement. Would have to look at individual starting points to gauge how successful people have been.
I believe the point may be, however, that the Communist Congo would be a major target for the United States- resulting in a much bloodier civil war and such. Perhaps the Congo can alleviate the problem by becoming an early member of the NAM.
If it can be both industrialist and stable. The way the Congo was made and administered since day one makes me doubt that a political solution can be found. I can't for the life of me find any set of Congolese leaders that could be considered good or even competent. Even Lumumba, as likable as he was, didn't "get" politics. Change in the DRC would have to come from the bottom up.
my idea for the reasons of unstable DRC was because, perhaps, of a simple lack of infrastructure- all the country had was a boat-filled river, paranoid police and a random nuclear reactor.
