Stephen Ellis is a senior researcher at the African Studies Centre in Leiden, the Netherlands. An historian by training, his most recent work is a history of the 1989-97 civil war in Liberia. His current research interest is in religion and politics in Africa. He is also working on a general history of Madagascar. He maintains a general interest in African politics and is co-editor of the journal African Affairs and focuses on Liberia, Madagascar, Sierra Leone and South Africa. His latest book, coauthored with Gerrie ter Haar, is Worlds of Power: Religious Thought and Political Practice in Africa (Oxford University Press, New York, 2004). Previously, Dr. Ellis worked on detachment for the International Crisis Group as director of its Africa program.