K. Maeve Powlick examines in this article the economic literature on intrastate conflict and compares its findings with observations from the war in Sierra Leone. She recalls the post-conflict policy recommendations from the World Bank and suggests some additions such as: improving the governance of natural resources themselves and not only resource revenues; addressing grievances against the government; bringing patron-client relationships out of hiding so that resources may be distributed in a more transparent, egalitarian fashion.