A Socialist Peace: Explaining the Absence of War in Guinea Conakry

All of Guinea's six West African neighbors have experienced civil war or separatist insurgency in the last 20 years. Guinea, one of the poorest, most socially fractured and poorly ruled countries in the region, has escaped the scourge of war, against the expectations of both Guineans and their neighbors. While the violent and intrusive socialist government that ruled Guinea from 1958-1984 caused tremendous suffering, it is also the place we should look for clues to how Guinea evaded war. The durable dispositions of a socialist habitus instilled during that time created a strong sense of national unity and identity in Guineans, as well as techniques for dealing with conflict and deflecting it outward.