"Blood Diamonds" by Frédéric Barrault, in African Geopolitics (Spring 2001), 815 15th St., N.W., Ste. 506, Washington, D.C. 20005; "The Failure of Peacekeeping in Sierra Leone" by William Reno, in Current History (May 2001), 4225 Main St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19127.

Civil strife in Africa is often blamed on political grievances or ethnic hatreds. But there’s another, perhaps more important factor: diamonds. The major civil wars in Africa today—in Angola, Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea—are being fought in or near diamond-mining zones, notes Barrault, who teaches at the Institut Catholique d’Études Supérieures at La Roche-sur-Yon, France.

Africa holds more than half of the global reserves of diamonds and it supplies half of the $7 billion world market in uncut diamonds. "Given their value, diamonds always have been an aim of conquest and power among the different powers and rival factions in Africa," Barrault says. Since African nations gained their independence, diamonds have been fueling civil wars. The first wars in the former Belgian Congo in the 1960s, for instance, were fought against a background of struggle for control of the Katanga and Kasai mines. The pattern continues today. "People in Africa fight over diamonds, and the diamond trade finances the insurgencies, thus supporting situations of permanent warfare," Barrault points out. "It is a vicious circle [and] a tragedy for the people of Africa." Hundreds of thousands have been killed.

In a detailed analysis of the decade-old war in Sierra Leone between the government and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), Reno, a political scientist at Northwestern University, underscores the important role diamonds have played in the conflict. The rebels have obtained weapons from Liberian president Charles Taylor in return for diamonds mined in Sierra Leone. This, Reno observes, has enabled the RUF to wage war against the country’s "corrupt and inept government" without making an effort to develop popular support. "The RUF bases its political power on control over diamonds, much as had the corrupt Sierra Leone politicians that the RUF criticized."

Responding to reports of atrocities in Sierra Leone, the United Nations Security Council, at the request of Britain and the United States, voted unanimously in March to impose an embargo on Liberian diamond exports, with the aim of cutting off the RUF’s resources. It was the third UN embargo against African diamonds in less than two years, notes Barrault. In mid-2000, at Britain’s request, an 18-month embargo on all Sierra Leone diamonds was declared. A year before that the UN Security Council, at Canada’s request, had targeted Angolan diamonds, which for 25 years have been fueling the civil war between Jonas Savimbi’s rebel UNITA forces and the Angolan government.

"Not too much should be expected of these measures," Barrault says. Embargoes are rarely effective, he points out, and diamonds, being small and easily concealed, make circumvention a cinch. Africa’s warlords, he says, will continue to make use of their cursed treasure.