The Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire

This research paper analyzes the political and ethnic crisis in Côte d’Ivoire as of 2005, tracing the conflict from the death of President Felix Houphoüet-Boigny in 1993 to the subsequent civil war and failed peace accords. The author argues that the crisis is rooted in a 'politics of exclusion' and ethnic division, suggesting that an interim government and internationally supervised elections are necessary because the primary political actors have acted in bad faith.

• The current instability in Côte d’Ivoire is rooted in the concept of 'Ivoirité' (Ivorian-ness) introduced by former finance minister Henri Konan Bédié to distinguish 'real' Ivorian citizens from foreigners. This policy served to exclude rivals from power and disenfranchise people from the north, particularly those with Malinké sounding names, by forcing them to prove they were not foreigners.
• Alassane Ouattara has been a central figure in the politics of exclusion, with his Ivorian citizenship contested by the governments of Bédié and Gbagbo due to his Burkina Faso descent and Muslim faith, effectively preventing him from running as a presidential candidate.
• President Laurent Gbagbo is accused of exacerbating ethnic divisions by financing the Young Patriots, a party militia linked to violent demonstrations and extra-judicial killings, and by violating cease-fires and peace agreements, including the Marcoussis, Accra II, and Accra III accords.
• The author concludes that the primary political leaders—Gbagbo, Bédié, Ouattara, and Soro—should be barred from politics due to their history of bad faith, corruption, and violence. The proposed solution is the establishment of an interim government to lead the country toward internationally supervised, free, and fair elections.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2005). The Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire. https://saiia.org.za/research/the-crisis-in-cote-divoire/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. The Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire. 2005. https://saiia.org.za/research/the-crisis-in-cote-divoire/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=The Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire |date=20 April 2005 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/the-crisis-in-cote-divoire/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2005crisis, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{The Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2005}, month = apr, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/the-crisis-in-cote-divoire/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }