Looking at the scenes of bloodshed and looting, and the terrified flight of thousands of people, as Alessane Outtara took over as president, it is hard to imagine that only 25 years ago the Ivory Coast was the sparkling jewel of sub-Saharan Africa.
The messy way that the leadership changed has damaging relevance well beyond the newly impoverished country of 21 million people. It offers challenges to Africa and its leaders, to the United Nations, to the colonial powers, and to colonialism old and new.
Former colonial master, President Nicolas Sarkozy's France, was the key player in finally forcing former President Laurent Gbagbo to surrender his presidential bunker, four bloody months after he had lost the contested election. Putting the Ivory Coast on its feet involves far more than lifting embargoes on the country's cocoa crop.