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The number of violent conflicts in Sub Saharan Africa has been worryingly high in recent decades. The multitude of people killed, wounded, displaced or forced to flee as well as the level of destruction of infrastructure is unacceptable. Explanations for this state of affairs abound: state-failure, failure of development and democratization, the inherent antagonistic dynamic of Africa´s ethnic-tribal diversity, the problematic heritage of colonial rule, etc.. However, they have not led to a significant improvement of conflict prevention and solution in Africa. Obviously, these explanations do not sufficiently reflect the complexity and diversity of conditions in Africa. In the class, therefore, we will take a fresh look at state building governance, democratization as well as ethnic diversity etc. and how they have been managed by African regimes. First, we will analyze and discuss the challenges African leaders faced the day after independence. Which choices did they have to overcome the problematic heritage of colonialism and to ensure stability, unity and peace in the highly fragmented countries? In the 2nd part we will turn to selected case studies and discuss, based on presentations by students, the root causes and dynamics of conflict in countries reflecting the enormous diversity of the continent in terms of regions, colonial past, ethnic-religious composition, regime types, external influence as well as the presence or absence of mineral wealth. This will help us to get a much more sophisticated and realistic insight into the state and development of present African affairs.