International Actors and Côte d’lvoire’s Political and Economic Crises

Abstract

In line with the mantra of almost everyone who has written about Côte d’Ivoire’s, the story of the country goes as follows: with its close ties to Western nations when it gained independence from France in 1960, the development of cocoa production for export, and foreign investment, Côte d’Ivoire’s emerged as one of the most prosperous countries and a model for economic growth and political stability in West Africa. The country, which is made up of a predominantly Christian south and a Muslim north, was united under the strong leadership of its first president, Dr. Felix Houphouët-Boigny, from independence until his death in 1993. Since then, Côte d’Ivoire’s has been besieged by a series of political and economic crises. While many observers have discussed the internal factors that account for the country’s crises, the roles of international actors have been ignored. Thus, the major question probed in this chapter is quite straightforward: what roles have international actors played in Côte d’Ivoire’s crises and why? This question is poignant because many other scholars and I have demonstrated that foreign influence—operationalized as perceived or real external effect from military intervention or presence, military aid, economic aid, trade, ideology, values, and veto power—has had a negative impact on the economic and political crises of African countries.¹ Many other scholars have also done case studies on foreign influence and political instability in Africa.²