Collier (economics, Oxford U., UK), along with his colleague Anke Hoeffler, has previously proposed an economic model for understanding the outbreak of civil wars. Very briefly, the Collier-Hoeffler Model suggests that, given similar levels of political or cultural grievance, economic opportunity to organize and finance a rebellion will be the main predictor for whether conflict will actually occur. Here he and his coeditor Sambanis (political science, Yale U.) present case studies in which the authors were asked to explore the mechanisms through which the variables of the Collier-Hoeffler Model influence outcomes, as well as to investigate interaction effects among variables. The case studies in this volume examine actual and averted conflicts in Burundi, the Congo, Nigeria, Kenya, Mozambique, Sudan, Algeria, Senegal, and Mali. A companion volume contains case studies from Europe, Central Asia, and other regions. Both volumes contain the same introduction explaining the Collier-Hoeffler Model and conclusion ruminating on the lessons contained in the case studies for refining the model. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)