The Christian-Muslim fault line There is a small but real risk that these conflicts could some day coalesce into a general Muslim-Christian confrontation that would kill millions and convulse all of Africa. By Gwynne Dyer Published Feb 22, 2012 11:42 PM

View story Email Comments To the Editor

United Nations photo

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Jan. 29 in Ethiopia.

Sudan was bombing South Sudan again last week, only a couple of months after the two countries split apart.

Sudan is mostly Muslim, and South Sudan is predominantly Christian, but the quarrel is about oil, not religion. And yet, it is really about religion too, since the two countries would never have split apart along the current border if not for the religious divide.

Côte d'Ivoire was split along the same Muslim-Christian lines for nine years, althoug...