ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the Third Republic as a weak, anarchic, and a criminal state. It emerged in 1997 after a power shift in Rwanda in 1996. Until the end of 2018, the country had experienced only anarchy, which served quite well opportunistic behaviors of state managers. The argument is that the decay of Congolese state started from the deliberate manipulation of the state by elites for the purpose of resource extraction for private wealth accumulation and for maintaining power. More specifically, Joseph Kabila ruled Congo from 2001 to 2018 as a personalist autocracy with a parliamentary majority that completely muzzled the opposition and without an army to defend the nation since the Blue Helmets served as surrogates of the military. This lack of policy to reform the military had completely removed any incentive on the part of state managers to build a military capable to provide political order so critical to develop the economy. Although the leaders of the Third Republic had not reneged on their commitment to protect private assets, they invested nothing in physical infrastructure, education, or healthcare. By undermining these growth drivers, they had also undermined Congo’s long-term economic development.
