The expression "blood diamonds" refers to the major role attributed to diamonds in funding the wars that ravaged Angola, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo during the 1990s. Can it therefore be said that Africa suffers from a diamond "curse"? Is there a natural determinism by which diamonds inevitably give rise to conflicts? To answer these questions, the geographical analysis must be complemented by a geopolitical analysis, and that is what we shall attempt here: after examining the facts concerning diamonds' role in the four conflicts mentioned above (Angola, DRC, Liberia, Sierra Leone), we shall study the contextual and economic elements that elucidate the link between diamonds and conflict. Lastly, we shall see that although there are many structural reasons (natural and cultural) that make the diamond appear to be a "conflict resource", in every case there are ways of acting and reacting when faced with risks or crisis situations.