Up until the 1960s the grip and influence of colonial Europe all but covered the continent of Africa. One by one African countries began the long, difficult struggle of breaking this grip and moved, often violently, toward independence. Infrastructure development and western expertise had brought most of these countries from rural bush tribal communities to close reflections of their western developers based upon national boundaries drawn by earlier western colonialists often disregarding cultural and tribal boundaries. Then the colonists departed. Conflict begot conflict as political vacuums were filled with power grabs for control. Civil war ignited and spread throughout Africa. This thesis 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 thesis uses this model to focus-in on three countries in West Africa--Liberia, Côte 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 and almost always is influenced by neighboring states. Most of these countries are rural and fighting most often takes place in these rural hinterlands. This is also where the majority of the population also resides. Political power grabs are therefore adjudicated in a manner that incorporates noncombatants as a matter of course. But is this enough to show that political violence occurs on a regular basis to noncombatants in these countries? It is the addition of a catalyst that brings this argument full circle and succinctly shows that political violence indeed occurs to noncombatants. Child soldiers, some as young as seven years old, most often perpetuate political violence against noncombatants based upon their heinous abuse by their adult handler soldiers. 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, the thesis 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.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)