Up until the 1960s the grip and influence of colonial Europe all but covered the continent of Africa. This book addresses reasons why civil wars in Africa, particularly West Africa, seem to occur over and over. Using a model developed for the World Bank by Paul Collier and Anke Hoeffler, incidences of civil war can be predicted. This book uses this model to focus-in on three countries in West Africa-Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and Sierra Leone-to determine why civil war has occurred and the likelihood that civil war will occur in the future, or not. Why does African armed struggle rarely consist of uniformed combatants fighting for power? In fact, African civil war has never been well defined. Political violence against noncombatants occurs most often in armed conflicts but is not necessarily present in all civil wars. However, in West Africa where there is civil war, you will find child soldiers; where you find child soldiers you will certainly find political violence against noncombatants. In conclusion, this work addresses what the long term effects of grown up child soldiers are as they transition from soldier to productive member of society; "productive" being the pivotal concept."