Records of the U.S. State Department: Congo, Political and Governmental Affairs, February 1963-1966
The Congo (Zaire between 1965 and 1971; presently called Democratic Republic of the Congo) has long been considered significant because of its location, its resources, its potential, and (perhaps paradoxically) because of its weakness. The country has been at the center of a number of crises over the years, most notably following independence, during the Congo crisis of the 1960s, when there was a threat of the Cold War spilling over and heating up in Central Africa.