This issue contains four articles and a book review. ‘Exhuming Trends in Ethnic Conflict and Cooperation in Africa: Some selected states’ shows how conflicts ‘revolving around ethnic or religious identities’ do not only belong to the history of the past, but also to the reality of the present. Unless we as human beings undertake a radical ‘rethinking’ of ethnicity and change our mindsets, attitudes and behaviours, violent ethnic conflicts will remain with us and mar our future. The second article, by Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni, gives us a penetrating insight into a deep inter-ethnic divide in Zimbabwe. The beginnings and persistence of the particularism of the Ndebele are traced historically from pre-colonial times to the post-colonial present. ‘Religious Networks in Post-conflict Democratic Republic of the Congo: A Prognosis’ examines the roles of religious networks in the DRC’s public sphere in the post-conflict epoch and prognosticates the future of the country. ‘The Coherence Dilemma in Peacebuilding and Post-Conflict Reconstruction Systems’ analyses the coherence and coordination dilemma in peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction systems, with special reference to the United Nations’ integrated approach concept. A book review is then given
