Joseph E. Stiglitz compares here civil strife in the public arena to labor strikes in the private arena. Both are predicated on incomplete information (both sides believing they can « win, » when one “and possibly both“ must « lose »). Reasons for conflict, especially in Africa, include the rent-based nature of the economies, the « nothing-much-to-lose » position of many of its participants, the « one-shot » game-theoretic nature of many of its conflicts, and the lack of « voice » of most of its people. The article then draws out six implications for those interested in conflict management and conflict mitigation and comments, for example, on path-dependent irreversibilities of initial policy decisions.