In the mid-1980s, Emmanuel Jal was a seven-year-old Sudanese boy, living in a small village with his parents, aunts, uncles, and siblings. But, as Sudan's civil war moved closer-with the Islamic government seizing tribal lands for water, oil, and other resources-Jal's family moved again and again, seeking peace. Then, on one terrible day, Jal was separated from his mother, and later learned she had been killed; his father Simon rose to become a powerful...

In armed conflicts large parts of both the logistics and the actual combatants have been outsourced to private companies who want to maximize profit. As a result, cheap labour is hired from the poorest parts of the world. The gravest example of which is the employment of former child soldiers. The US Department of Defence have engaged in an almost $300 million deal with the private military company Aegis to execute operations in Iraq and Afghanistan....

The Patriot Jihadi: A Child Soldier's Transformation to A Patriot Guardian is a compelling memoir that traces the remarkable journey of Shawn Pardazi from a child soldier to a dedicated guardian of peace and security. Born into a tumultuous world, Shawn's early years were marked by the brutal realities of war and violence. As a child soldier, he experienced firsthand the horrors and complexities of armed conflict. But in the midst of chaos, Shawn...