After thirty years of stability, prosperity and a single party under the iron fist of Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the Ivory Coast has not yet settled its succession disputes. Enmeshed in a highly unusual crisis for the past five years, most of Ivory Coast’s political class has not, however, displayed any willingness to follow the international community’s recommendations in a docile manner, particularly the recommendations inspired by French foreign policy.

Has the UN Security Council overplayed its role by interfering in Ivory Coast’s domestic policy? Has it put the UN Mission in Ivory Coast (ONUCI) and all the local United Nations’ agencies in an untenable position, putting their staff in danger? The most notable outcome of this heavy-handed approach has been a loss of credibility for the international community, reduced to the role of a witness and logistical support for a peace process it is unable to influence.

 

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