While international attention has been focused on North Africa and the Middle East in recent weeks, the electoral crisis in Côte d?Ivoire has worsened and is entering a new and dangerous phase. Repeated efforts at international mediation have failed, and despite a financial squeeze on the incumbent Laurent Gbagbo, he shows no signs of relinquishing his illegitimate claim on power. There is a real risk that civil war will reignite or that military officers will stage a coup. Just this past week security forces loyal to Gbagbo opened fired on peaceful women protesters in the commercial capital Abidjan, and the UN reports 200,000 civilians fled neighborhoods largely supportive of Alassane Ouattara.
Office of Strategic Communication