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That other election

Given the scale of the undertaking, and given the push for democracy worldwide, it’s remarkable how little attention Congo’s upcoming vote is getting. The country is still in the midst of bloody and complex fighting that a 17,000-strong U.N. force—the world’s largest—is struggling to quell. Meanwhile, international observers and election technicians have flooded into the country ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.
607800_CongoUN5.jpg
607800_CongoUN5.jpg

Given the scale of the undertaking, and given the push for democracy worldwide, it's remarkable how little attention Congo's upcoming vote is getting. The country is still in the midst of bloody and complex fighting that a 17,000-strong U.N. force—the world's largest—is struggling to quell. Meanwhile, international observers and election technicians have flooded into the country to supervise the July 30 election. The smart money is on Joseph Kabila, and opposition candidates are already calling foul. The election seems certain to be messy but if it can help usher in an era of even partial stability, it will have been worth it: It is estimated that between three and four million people died during Congo's civil war.

Given the scale of the undertaking, and given the push for democracy worldwide, it’s remarkable how little attention Congo’s upcoming vote is getting. The country is still in the midst of bloody and complex fighting that a 17,000-strong U.N. force—the world’s largest—is struggling to quell. Meanwhile, international observers and election technicians have flooded into the country to supervise the July 30 election. The smart money is on Joseph Kabila, and opposition candidates are already calling foul. The election seems certain to be messy but if it can help usher in an era of even partial stability, it will have been worth it: It is estimated that between three and four million people died during Congo’s civil war.

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

Tags: Africa, Elections, Human Rights, United Nations

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