Stopping Bloodshed in Ivory Coast

In response to the election of Ouattarra, the Chairman of ECOWAS, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, convened an ECOWAS meeting of ECOWAS Heads of government on December 7 2010in Abuja, where the leaders unanimously backed the President elect and asked Mr. Gbagbo to step aside. The African Union (AU) also sent an envoy, former President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, to meet with and persuade the defeated President to step down, but that seems to have failed. After the report back of Mbeki, the AU announced its suspension of Cote d’Ivoire’s membership. Many other major powers, including multilateral agencies, are threatening other forms of sanctions if the Ivorian strong man continues to be obdurate and claims a hold on the presidency. The former university-lecturer-turned President has rebuffed all of these actions as “western intrusion”. He seems impervious to mounting international pressure and willing to risk an impending international isolation and internal conflict just to ensure that he defiantly clings to power.