Resisting War: Guinean Youth and Civil Wars in the Mano River Basin

Abstract

For more than two decades, the Mano River Basin was trapped in a spiral of violent civil wars at the centre of which were the region’s youth. However, in spite of the similarities in contexts, and despite its history and external attacks by insurgency groups based in Liberia and Sierra Leone, Guinea did not degenerate into a civil war. The immediate question then is, what factors might have been responsible at that time for mitigating the potential involvement of the country’s youth in a civil war, and can the lessons learned from Guinea be emulated in conflict-affected countries today? This article provides in-depth perspectives into the Guinean youth and the factors that mitigated their involvement in violent insurrections against the state from 1989 to 2011. It also juxtaposes the findings on Guinea with conclusions on factors responsible for involvement of youth in the civil wars in other countries in the region.