Deadline for Submissions: April 21, 2000

Images of children in war are heartbreaking. We see children suffering as direct victims of the violence, as orphans of war and as displaced refugees. Contemporary war fighting, however, not only targets children through the strategy of total war, destroying communities and homelands in an effort to demoralize the enemy. It also recruits children as active combatants. Today over fifty countries recruit child soldiers into militaries, paramilitary organizations, and armed opposition groups. These children serve as mainstays of militarization as they fight alongside adults. Children's diverse roles in the war process are determined by their social status. Girls are raped, forced into prostitution and sold into sexual slavery. Boys are often forced to fight for military organizations. And those with greater economic resources are most likely to escape the front lines.

This issue of Peace Review will analyze the many effects war has on children, the ways in which children participate in and resist war, and movements to safeguard children from war. We seek a range of essays that address the theoretical issues, empirical realities, and practical policies surrounding this important issue.

PEACE REVIEW is a quarterly, multidisciplinary, transnational journal of research and analysis, focusing on the current issues and controversies that underlie the promotion of a more peaceful world. We define peace research to include human rights, development, ecology, culture, race, gender and related issues. Our task is to present the results of this research and thinking in short (no more than 3500 words), accessible and substantive essays.

Please send for Peace Review’s Writer’s Guidelines by emailing our editorial offices at watkinsr@usfca.edu or by calling (415) 422-2910.

Send essay submissions by email attachment to: watkinsr@usfca.edu. Editorial correspondence, including manuscripts and disks can be sent to Robert Elias, Peace Review, Peace and Justice Studies, University of San Francisco, 2130 Fulton Street, San Francisco, CA 94117, USA. Tel: 415-422-6349/2910. Fax: 415-422-5671, or 415-388-2631, Attn. Elias. Email: Eliasr@usfca.edu.