Postcolonial Collusion -- Félix Houphouët-Boigny, France, and Repression in Côte d'Ivoire CSTPV Seminar with Marco Wyss

Abstract
In early 1963, Ivorian president Félix Houphouët-Boigny launched a wave of repression, which led to repetitive purges, large-scale arrests, and harsh penalties, including death sentences. Although he was the undisputed leader of a one-party state, Houphouët-Boigny was fearful of subversion and used the pretext of regional instability to eradicate any potential challenge to his rule and gain total control. In this endeavour, he counted on and was ultimately assisted by France. Following independence in 1960, the Ivorian leader had not only entered into defence and military assistance agreements with Paris, but had also given the French the final say in domestic affairs through a secret deal that allowed them to militarily intervene in Côte d'Ivoire. This neo-colonial collusion was not, however, driven by the Elysée, but Abidjan. In discussing Houphouët-Boigny's early postcolonial repression, this talk will thus turn the concept of Françafrique on its head, and shed light on the security dynamics of early postcolonial West Africa. This will highlight the pre-eminence of local, regional, and neo-colonial over Cold War factors, and help explain the longevity of the rule of Houphouët-Boigny, who was not a benign, but a ruthless dictator.

Short Bio
Marco Wyss is Professor of International History and Security at Lancaster University; a Research Fellow at the Department of Military History, Faculty of Military Science, Stellenbosch University; and a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London. He previously held a range of positions at ETH Zurich's Center for Security Studies, the Universities of Chichester, Lausanne, and the Free State, and the Leibniz Institute of European History in Mainz, and held visiting professorships at Sciences Po Lille and Sciences Po Aix. Marco gained his PhD in Politics and International Relations, as well as in History, from the Universities of Nottingham and Neuchâtel. He is the editor of the International Journal of Military History and Historiography, and co-edits the book series ‘New Perspectives on the Cold War' (Brill). His latest book is Postcolonial Security: Britain, France, and West Africa's Cold War (Oxford University Press, 2021). Among other projects, he is currently working on a short biography of the longtime Ivorian leader Félix Houphouët-Boigny and a book on the seemingly paradoxical military assistance by western and African countries during the Nigerian Civil War.