How many civil wars and massacres can the world deal with, at one time? The situation in Ivory Coast now threatens to rival Libya for bloodshed, mayhem and human-rights abuses. Descriptions of the situation in Abidjan, once one of Africa’s most cosmopolitan cities, sound desperate. There are also reports of massacres and mass atrocities in fighting outside the capital. All this raises the obvious question. If the UN and western military forces are prepared to intervene so forcefully in Libya, why has the response to Ivory Coast been so relatively feeble? Read more