This volume examines the factors that contribute to the use of children in war, the effects of war upon children, and the perpetual cycle of warfare that engulfs many of the world's poorest nations. It offers viable policies to reduce child recruitment, and reintegrate child soldiers into society after war.

Scott Gates is director of the Centre for the Study of Civil War, International Peace Research Institute, Oslo, and professor of political science, Norwegian University of Science & Technology. He is the coauthor of several books, including Teaching, Tasks, and Trust: Functions of the Public Executive and Working, Shirking, and Sabotage: Bureaucratic Response to a Democratic Public.

Simon Reich is director of the Division of Global Affairs at Rutgers University. He is coeditor of Immigration, Integration, and Security: America and Europe in Comparative Perspective and Human Trafficking, Human Security, and the Balkans.