Ivory Coast: one country, three armies?

As the international community commits to contribute to the prosperity and democracy in Cote d’Ivoire, it should avoid just empowering President Ouattara’s regime instead of the state.The country has gone from a functioning –if authoritarian—state under Houphouet (in power from independence in 1960 until his death in 1993) to an ever-degrading state weakness and failure according to the World Bank, Foreign Policy and Brookings indices. After more than a decade of failed multipartism, coups, territorial division, armed confrontation, xenophobic ideologies and power manipulation by Laurent Gbagbo, Cote d’Ivoire clearly needed a new regime, and the international support to consolidate Alassane Ouattara in power since April (after he won the elections in November) is more than welcome. However, Cote d’Ivoire needs not just a new regime but also stronger institutions, and amongst them a unified national military, to provide stabilization and security.