Tag Archive for Ivory Coast

Civil War and Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire – An Analysis of the Steps Taken by the International Community to Prevent, Manage and Resolve the Conflict

February 13, 2013 International Relations, Paid Content, Prevent/Contain Intl. Conflicts, Uncategorized No comments

“Civil War and Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire – An Analysis of the Steps Taken by the International Community to Prevent, Manage and Resolve the Conflict ” by Kapok Tree Diplomacy

PREVIEW – Civil War and Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire – An Analysis of the Steps Taken By the International Community To Prevent, Manage and Resolve the Conflict

February 13, 2013 Free Content, International Relations, Prevent/Contain Intl. Conflicts No comments

(C) Kapok Tree Diplomacy. Oct 2010. All rights reserved. Jeff Dwiggins.

Essay consists of 11 pages, double-spaced + 26 references (3,293 words)

Table of Contents (TOC)

I.                 Introduction

A.    Summary of the Sources and Causes of the Conflict

B.    Background

II.              Actions of the Main Actors

A.     France                                               

B.     Burkina Faso

C.     The United Nations (UN)

III.           United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI)

IV.            UN Security Council (UNSC)

A.     ECOWAS and the African Union (AU)

B.     FN Zone Commanders

C.     Independent Electoral Commission (CEI)

D.     President Laurent Gbagbo and his party, the Front Populaire Ivoirian (FPI)

E.     Prime Minister Guillaume Soro and the Forces Nouvelles (FN)

F.     The World Bank (WB)

V.              The Ouagadougou Political Accord (OPA)

A.     Genesis of the OPA

B.     Key Components

PREVIEW

Actions of the Main Actors

France.  After a failed military coup on September 19, 2002, France quickly moved 700 troops into Côte d’Ivoire under a 1961 pact obligating it to defend its former colony from any external invasion (Kohler 31). But France also had 16,000 citizens and 210 subsidiaries of French companies (Kohler 31), in addition to $3.5 billion Euros in direct investment in industries like oil, gas, banking, pharmaceuticals and telecommunications to protect (Busch 52). Read more

Civil War and Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire – An Analysis of the Sources and Causes

February 12, 2013 International Relations, Paid Content, Prevent/Contain Intl. Conflicts, Uncategorized No comments

“Civil War and Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire – An Analysis of the Sources and Causes ” by Kapok Tree Diplomacy

Preview – Civil War and Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire – Table of Contents and Section One

For over twenty years following its independence from France in 1960, Côte d’Ivoire was a rare example of remarkable economic growth and political and social stability in contrast to its poor and often violent and divisive neighbors in the region of West Africa. A complex mix of political, economic and social factors led to a successful military coup d’état in December 1999
and a civil war in November-December 2002 that brought the “Ivorian Miracle” crashing down.


This was followed by several years of “neither peace nor war” where corruption and discrimination were rampant, several peace accords failed, and numerous political groups jockeyed for power. A breakthrough occurred in March 2007 with the signing of the Ouagadougou Peace Accord (OPA) which is still not fully implemented to this day. This analysis
will attempt to primarily answer why the coup and civil war happened, and secondarily, why it took so long to achieve the OPA.

My paper will examine the underlying sources and causes of the coup d’état, the civil war and the protracted stalemate which followed. To understand not only how the conflict emerged but how it was perpetuated for so long, I will explore several political, economic and social and
regional factors that do not appear to be mutually exclusive. Côte d’Ivoire is a genuine multi layered conflict weaving together diverse issues like ethnicity, citizenship, land, immigration policy, natural resource governance and economic and political discrimination.

Free Preview – Civil War and Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire – An Analysis of the Sources and Causes

February 12, 2013 International Relations, Prevent/Contain Intl. Conflicts No comments

Civil War and Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire – An Analysis of the Sources and Causes
{(C) Kapok Tree Diplomacy. Oct. 2010. 10 pages double-spaced. 19 references}

Table of Contents

I. Political Sources and Causes
a. Félix Houphouët-Boigny and the Legacy of Authoritarian Rule
b. Henri Bédié, General Robert Gueï and Laurent Gbagbo
c. Concept of Ivoirité
d. Dependency on the State
e. French Involvement
f. Multi-Party Democracy
g. Corruption
h. Political Source and Causes – Summary

II. Economic Sources and Causes
a. Dependence on Agriculture
b. Growth without Development
c. Lack of Investment Capital
d. Structural Adjustments
e. Land Tenure
f. Uneven Development
g. Economic Source and Causes – Summary

III. Social and Ethnic Sources and Causes
a. Foreign Workers
b. Ethnicity
c. Social and Ethnic Sources and Causes – Summary

IV. Regional Sources and Causes
a. Small Arms, Mercenaries and Destabilization
b. Failed Peace Accords

V. Conclusion

I.  Political Sources and Causes

Félix Houphouët-Boigny and the Legacy of Authoritarian Rule. An appropriate place to begin an analysis of the crisis in Côte d’Ivoire is with the man who ruled the country from 1960 – 1993 and his benign authoritarianism. Houphouët-Boigny lured millions of migrant workers to southern cocoa fields in the 60’s and 70’s with a generous citizenship and land ownership package embodied in the premise of “the land belongs to those who work it” (Mimiko 194). Few people complained about the liberal immigration and land ownership policy when Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose by 8 percent per year on average between 1960 and 1979 while other African nations had minimal or negative growth (Country Studies, “Introduction”).

Houphouët-Boigny held Côte d’Ivoire’s sixty ethnic groups together and kept them relatively happy for over thirty years by rewarding minority groups through a patronage system with prestigious government jobs and positions (Akokpari 97). However, as the abundance of land dwindled and cocoa prices plummeted in the 80’s and 90’s, state wages were cut in half and social dissent escalated dramatically (Guesnet, Muller, & Schure 12). Houphouët-Boigny could no longer patronize all his enemies, and indigenous Ivoirites began seeing their migrant neighbors in a new light. Scarcity began to aggravate ethnic divisions and undermine stability (Klaas 112). Furthermore, Houphouët-Boigny failed to name a successor prior to his death in 1993, creating an unstable situation where his successor, Henri Bédié, had to “legitimize his ascension to power” (Kohler 17).

Free Preview – Civil War and Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire – Table of Contents and Section One

 
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