V. R. FILIPPOV Doctor of Historical Sciences Guinea Keywords: political conflict, tribal feuds, presidential elections, sociolinguistic groups There are many countries in Africa that are torn apart by tribal strife, and many are embroiled in regional conflicts. There are countries where people have suffered for years under the despotism of corrupt leaders. African States, which have a lot of weapons but little bread, over the past half century still strive to create effective political systems and build a civil society. Tribalism, like a cancer, affects the bodies of these countries, giving rise to endless bloody conflicts, sharp power struggles, cronyism, nepotism, kleptocracy. Archaic consciousness, illusions of "community of blood and soil", heavy legacy of the past retain their power over the minds and souls of Africans. Tribal identity turns out to be more important and significant than national solidarity and citizenship, and the state is conceived not as a "common home", but as a barrack in which an armed clientele retains the power of "its own". Formal democratic procedures acquire only a form, which, like a uniform embroidered with gold braid, is tried on by more and more dictators. And those deprived of power again take up arms, because only they can give the illusion of security on the Black Continent. War becomes a way of life, and a mobilized tribal identity becomes a unifying symbol of group interests, which most often lie in the material sphere. The lack of political culture does not allow us to understand these interests as class, social and professional, and does not allow us to give the struggle for them a civilized character. As a result, the confrontation turns into a bloody fight between "imaginary communities". Guinea, as soon as it gained independence (1958), followed this path. However, for many years its first president, Seku Toure, managed to contain the "war of all against all", and the country gave the impression of an island of relative ... Read more