This book examines the root causes of ethnic conflict in Africa. The main thesis of the book is that ethnic political mobilization results from deeply-felt grievances on the part of the group so mobilized. Such grievance revolve around political and socio-economic marginalization, including perceived skewed distribution of both material and symbolic resources. However, the recourse to violence stems from the nature of government's response to the mobilized - whether the government responds positively and thus seeks to redress the grievances of the mobilized group or whether the government responds negatively and seeks to suppress such groups, thereby radicalizing them. The book applies this model to five concrete cases and concludes with an exposition of possible strategies for managing identity conflicts.