 While many other countries in the region were undergoing repeated military coups, experimenting with Marxism, and developing ties with the Soviet Union and China, Ivory Coast, under former president Houphouët -Boigny, maintained a close political allegiance to the West.Having served as Ivory Coast's first ambassador to the U.S., former president Bédié was also familiar with the United States.The United States was sympathetic to Ivory Coast's program of rapid, orderly economic development based on austerity measures as well as its moderate stance on international issues.