GENOCIDE        WATCH

In 2010 and 2011, post-election violence erupted when the incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo, refused to accept the victory of his opponent, Muslim politician Alassane Ouattara. This took place in a political climate in which politicians had been constructing and exploiting the xenophobic concept of "ivoirité" aiming to exclude Muslim, northern "immigrant" communities since the 1990s. While President Ouattara has since overseen an overall successful peacebuilding process, he has also cracked down on government critics, and politics remains highly polarized.