Cote d'Ivoire Civil War of 2002

Cause & Effect Model

Importance in Analyzing Cote d'Ivoire Civil War 2002

The Cote d’Ivoire Civil War of 2002 was the first Civil War to occur in Cote d’Ivoire and the decline of the once economically flourishing cocoa producing empire is the product of the rebels, ethnic division, failing financial policy, government corruption, and lack of agricultural productivity.

Solution

References

Primary Parties

Polity IV Authority Trends

Ivorian Government

The succession of Ivorian Presidents became an issue when fraudulent multiparty elections were taking place and xenophobic policies were being introduced to strip political elites from their ranks and power.

Chirot, D. (2006). The Debacle in Cote d'Ivoire. Journal of Democracy, 17(2), 63-77. Retrieved from http://mwbdvjh.muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_democracy/v017/17.2chirot.pdf

Polity IV Regime Trends: Cote d'Ivoire, 1960-2013. (2014, January 1). Retrieved November 18, 2014, from http://www.systemicpeace.org/polity/ivo2.htm

Rebel Groups

"This conflict demonstrates that the importance of early recognition and the understanding of political affliction is critical for forging a durable peace agreement and such an agreement can only last through this re-integration of French policies."

"After Gbagbo displaced a band of Guei’s army by replacing them with “loyal recruits”, the soldiers resisted and along with other rebellious soldiers—mostly of northern origin— sought base in the northern towns of Bouaké and Karhogo. They were later joined by Gbagbo's oppotsition and created the Forces Novelles or the "New Forces". It was this rebel group that led a coup attempt in Abidjan in September of 2002."

"The solution relies on the intervention of the French government, where a member of the French cabinet would re-establish economic stability and growth through the limited agricultural resources as the head of the state."

Causes

Economic Recession

"Nearing the end of Boigny’s regime in the 1990’s, the civilians of Cote d'Ivoire experienced increasing disorder and more brutal enforcements delegated by the police and army factions due to the economic recession which began in the late 1980’s which was caused by the global price drop in cocoa."

Government Corruption

"Once Bedie came into power his political camp created the concept of the “Ivorite”, which meant that in order for one to be considered Ivorian they had to prove to be more culturally southern than northern; this automatically cut Ouattara from the race and officially initiated the cultural divide." (Chirot, 2006)

Ethnic Division

"The term “Ivorite” psychologically split the nation into the ‘real’ citizens and the ‘foreigners’ or ‘immigrants’, this inevitably gave rise to marginalization and the formation of anti-immigrant sentiment amongst the people. The terms of these laws and xenophobic policies included the demand for northerners to prove their origin- both parents must have been born within the country’s borders."

Cote d'Ivoire Civil War of 2002

Grace Hernandez

Florida International University