Ecowas

Leadership is back in Africa. Perhaps for the first time in the continent's history, an official body, the economic community of west African states has succeeded in ending a coup in a nearby nation. That's something to celebrate.

The international community must do everything in its power to reverse the coup d'état in Mali for the sake of the Malian people, for the future of democracy in West Africa and to strengthen the global norm against recognizing governments arising from military coups against democratic regimes.

I spoke with Gilles Yabi, Crisis Group's West Africa Project Director, about Côte d'Ivoire's mounting crisis and how to keep the conflict from spilling across borders and destabilizing the entire West African region. Listen to our conversation here.

Once known as the Paris of West Africa, the Ivory Coast has undergone a decade of turmoil. The latest deadlock threatens regional peace and could influence dozens of elections scheduled throughout the continent this year.

Unless Gbagbo peacefully leaves power, it seems inevitable that violence and conflict will again reign in the Ivory Coast destroying thousands of lives and the economy of one of the more prosperous African countries.

At a moment in which the tide of global democracy is seemingly in reversal, it is heartening to note the enthusiasm with which many voters in Africa a...