Laura Seay presses the importance of the country's elections:
Despite the ongoing troubles in the east, the DRC is more stable today than it was five years ago. Several militants groups have laid down their arms or integrated into the national army. While most people here still live in desperate poverty, there are small signs that the economy is strengthening. Transportation infrastructure is getting vastly better thanks to assistance from the Chinese government. With assistance from the European Union, health care infrastructure and access are improving. But, if the 2011 elections leads to violence, all of these gains are at risk, as is the stability of the entire region.
(Photo: A man killed in fighting with the Congolese armed forces lies dead after having been dragged into a field in Lubumbashi on November 28, 2011. The army and armed police were engaged in operations in the cemetery, with sporadic bursts of gunfire coming from inside, as they tried to flush out suspected elements of an armed group disrupting voting in the city. By Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images)
The Dish 