I used, years ago, to believe that the UN troops would step in and sort things out in these situations. In Ivory Coast, they stroll about watching while rioting, looting, threatening with guns after curfew in outlying districts of the capital, even killing, goes on under their very noses. The elected president is holed up in the Tiama Hotel, protected by his loyal troops, and the deposed one stays in the Presidential Palace guarded by the Military. The ordinary people are now suffering as the economy (such as it was) is at a standstill, the price of rice has doubled and no-one can go out after dark. Anarchy is just around the corner. No-one from the developed world seems to be doing much, even the French (13,000 live and work there) make disapproving noises but don't act. My point is, do we (or the UN) have a responsibility to intervene to uphold the democratic process? Or is it useless to try? I know that even the elected guys are usually corrupt.