Many African nations became sovereign following the Second World War. New African leaders were confronted by arbitrary boundaries and inherited state structures in ethnically diverse regions. Failing to realize their country s potential, the first generation of leaders fell into kleptocratic methods of governing. Ethnic communities, political leaders, warlords and civilians soon discovered the most effective and efficient path to power and personal gain to be achieved with the simplicity and lethality of small arms, and in particular, the AK47. Tropical Africa has an abundance of natural...