The influence of powerful states of the Security Council during democratization processes the case of Côte D’ivoire

• Main Author: Vanessa Villalibre Fernández
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Asociación Española de Profesores de Derecho Internacional y Relaciones Internacionales (AEPDIRI) 2009-01-01
• Series: Revista Electrónica de Estudios Internacionales
• Subjects: Consejo de Seguridad; procesos de democratización; derecho de veto; proceso político; Security Council; democratization processes; right of veto; political process
• Online Access: http://www.reei.org/index.php/revista/num17/notas/the-influence-of-powerful-states-of-the-security-council-during-democratization-processes-the-case-of-cte-divoire

The Security Council is composed by 15 states: five of them (France, United Kingdom, United States, Russia and China) exercising on a permanent basis and ten others exercise for two years. This difference is important to observe their influence on the global policy. Permanent states are in a better position to organize the Council’s agenda, but also to control the decisions to take thanks to their right of veto. Concerning the case of Côte d’Ivoire, France has played a crucial role in fostering the political process and deploys peacekeeping troops, also initiating the Council’s involvement and preparing statements and resolutions. For this reason, the measuresconcerning democratization processes taken by the Security Council in the African continent in general and in Cote d’Ivoire in particular provides a striking example of how the building or dismantling of states depends critically on external influences, both multilateral and unilateral pressures.