November 10, 2004

 Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo, who came to power in 2000 via fraud and demagoguery, is running out of options. He refuses to make peace with the northern rebels, mainly because he has gathered support among southerners by promising to expel migrants (up to several generations back) and make life better for "real Ivorians." The UN and France won't put up with that, and are threatening sanctions (against arms imports) and other restrictions if  Gbagbo doesn't come up with another strategy. His current one isn't working. His army cannot overwhelm the 11,000 UN and French peacekeepers, and unleashing mobs of angry civilians in the commercial capital (Abidjan) has only further weakened the economy.