This uneven but generally informative collection examines the brew of problems and responses generated by civil wars in Liberia, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia. Two chapters survey the implications of conflict within South Africa and its role as a regional power. To date, the mechanisms for conflict resolution within and between African countries have been weak and often ad hoc, but momentum toward stronger regional and continental institutions is real, if modest. If the economic and political marginalization of Africa can accelerate the search by African leaders for home-grown solutions to the continent's problems, many of the contributors suggest, Africans could turn today's adversity to long-term advantage.