The Anatomy of The Crisis in Ivory Coast: 1990-2008

Abstract

It all started with the death of Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the strong president of Ivory Coast who held suppressively together the population and the different ethnic and religious groups of the country. The economic crisis became unmanageable, power deconcentration bred political instability, and smouldering ethnic, religious-based extremism came to surface. Presidents following one another used the army to strengthen their position instead of supporting society at large. Northern and southern provinces of the country became hostile with each other even though the UN and French forces arrived in the meantime. Eventually the conflict turned into an Anti-French rebellion, and peace agreements were disrupted one after the other. Changes in politics and the seeming co-operation of rivals caused only a transitional peace, so there is still a lot to be done for a real consolidation.